Italy's unemployment rate
dropped in December to 12.9% from the revised 13.3% in November,
national statistics agency Istat said Friday.
The news comes as both a surprise and good news for the
government of Italian Premier Matteo Renzi.
Istat said that the decrease of 0.4% represented a recovery
from what had been the highest rate since it began this
measurement in 1977.
The jobless rate had been stuck at 13.3% for both October
and November, making it difficult for Renzi to argue his
government is a good steward of the economy.
At the same time, Istat reported that the youth jobless
rate also dropped dramatically in December, to 42% from the
previous 43%.
It added that its statistics are provisional and could be
revised further.
Istat said that 22.42 million Italians were employed last
month, while 3.322 were unemployed and looking for work.
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