Italy January jobless rate falls to 22-year low of 5.1%

ROME, March 4 (Reuters) - Italy's ‌unemployment rate ​fell ​to 5.1% in January and a net 80,000 jobs were added during the month, data showed ‌on Wednesday, as long-running job creation continues despite weak growth ⁠in the euro zone's third-largest economy.

The jobless rate was the lowest ‌since the current series began ‌in 2004.

A Reuters poll of eight analysts had forecast a January jobless rate at 5.6%.

The unemployment rate in December ​was revised down slightly to 5.5% from an originally reported 5.6%, national statistics bureau ISTAT reported.

In the three-month ⁠period between November and January employment was up by 23,000, or 0.1%, compared ​with the previous quarter.

In January, the youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years ​old, fell to 18.9% from 20.9% ‌the previous month.

The employment rate, one of the lowest in the euro zone, climbed to ⁠62.6% in January from 62.4% the previous month.

However, so-called "inactive" people, neither working nor looking for work, also rose in January from December ⁠by 35,000, or 0.3%, ISTAT said.

In January there were 70,000 more people ​with a job compared to the same month in 2025, a rise of 0.3%.

The euro zone's third-largest economy grew by 0.5% in ‌2025, from 0.8% the previous year, ISTAT reported on Monday.

Rome is forecasting growth of 0.7% ‌this year, which would be a fourth consecutive year of ⁠sub-1% growth despite a steady ‌inflow of billions ​of euros of EU-post-COVID 19 recovery funds.

(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli, graphic by Stefano Bernabei, editing by Gavin ‌Jones)

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