The number of people employed in Italy decreased in the third quarter, the first quarter-on-quarter drop in the absolute number of people in work since the first quarter of 2015. The National Institute for Statistics reported 23.25 million people were in employment in Italy in the third quarter of 2018, down 52,000 from the previous three months.

The number of permanent employees and the self-employed both fell — the declines were not offset by a further increase in temporary employees. The employment rate remained stable at 58.7%.

On a year-over-year basis, the number of people in employment increased by 147,000 from the third quarter of 2017. The year-on-year trend showed an increase of 147,000 employed people; increases of 316,000 temporary employees and 53,000 self-employed people were offset by a loss of 222,000 permanent employees.

The employment rate in October, net of seasonality, remained static and the number of employees substantially unchanged compared with September 2018.