Employment down 889,000 in first quarter year-on-year -ISTAT

(ANSAmed) - ROME, JUN 11 - The level of employment in Italy in the first trimester of 2021 has fallen by 243,000 units (-1.1%) compared to the previous quarter and by 889,000 units (-3.9%) over the same period last year, national statistics agency ISTAT said on Friday.
    The data in the agency's report on the labor market was influenced by a new methodology that considers as unemployed those workers who have been receiving the Cassa integrazione (CIG) benefit for at least three months after being laid off or having their hours reduced by companies in financial difficulty.
    The CIG benefit has been widely used by businesses during the pandemic.
    The number of unemployed increased by 103,000 units on the previous trimester and by 240,000 compared to the first trimester of 2020.
    In a comparison of trends, ISTAT said, the decrease involved employees (-576,000, -3,2%), especially those with a short-term contract, and the self-employed (-313,000, -6%).
    Self-employed workers decreased below the five million threshold for the first time since the start of the historic series (2004). (ANSAmed).