The number of couples in which both members are unemployed increased by 1.8% in December 2023 year-on-year and by 1.4% quarter-on-quarter, to 4,965, the Institute for Employment and Training reported this Monday ( IEFP).
“Of the total number of unemployed people who are married or in a civil union, 9930 (8.0%) also have a record that their spouse is also registered as unemployed with the employment service, a total of 4965 unemployed couples as of December 2023, which is +1.8% compared to the same period of the previous year,” states the IEFP’s published statistical information, with data relating to mainland Portugal.
The number of unemployed couples in December 2023 is the highest since January of the same year, the month in which it reached 5,037.
Couples in double unemployment are entitled to a 10% increase in unemployment benefits if they have dependents.
According to the IEFP, at the end of December there were 305,242 unemployed people registered with the continent’s employment services, of which 40.8% were married or living in a civil union, for a total of 124,394 people.
The institute also said unemployment reported to the continent’s employment services rose 4.8% year-on-year and 1.8% month-on-month.
As for the total number of unemployed people who are married or in a civil union, there was an increase of 1.9% (2,358 unemployed) compared to December 2022 and 2.1% (2,512) compared to November 2023.