Unemployment in southern Italy was
almost triple that in northern Italy in 2017, ISTAT said
Tuesday.
In the poorer Mezzogiorno the rate was 19.4% compared to 6.9%
in the more affluent north.
The southern rate was also around double the rate in central
Italy, 10.00%, the statistics agency said.
Italy's overall average jobless rate in 2017 was 11.2%, down
from 11.7% in 2016, ISTAT said on Tuesday.
The national statistics agency said the third consecutive
yearly fall had taken the unemployment rate down to the lowest
level since 2013.
It said the number of people looking for work dropped by
105,000 last year.
Italy's employment rate climbed for the fourth consecutive
year in 2017, with a rise of 265,000 people in work taking it up
to 58%, ISTAT said.
The agency said this was the highest level since 2009.
It added, however, that it was still 0.7 of a percentage
below the peak reached at the start of the economic crisis in
2008.
It said 23.23 million people were in work in Italy last year.
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