Between January and March, the unemployment rate was estimated at 30.5 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than in the previous quarter (30.6 percent) and 1.5 percentage points lower than the quarter year-on-year (32.0 percent).
In the first quarter of 2021, the unemployed population, estimated at 4,744,020 people aged 15 and over, decreased by 0.1 percent (3,602 people) from the previous quarter.
However, there was an increase of 8 563 unemployed in year-on-year terms, representing an increase of 0.2 percent.
The employed population aged 15 or over was estimated at 10 821 205, that is, it increased by 0.7 percent compared to the previous quarter (71 717 more people) and 7.3 percent compared to the same quarter of 2020.
The employment rate stood at 62.6 percent, down 0.3 percent from the previous quarter (62.8 percent) and up 3.3 percent from the same quarter of the previous year (60.7 percent) ).
The INE report highlights that the situation of public calamity due to covid-19 resulted in a temporary slowdown in the production of goods and services, in particular non-essentials, as well as restrictions on the free movement of people, particularly in the case of Luanda, which has been under sanitary fence for over a year.
In the first quarter of 2021, the bulk of the provinces (18) worked with 75 percent of the workforce.
Indicators on the labor market reveal other evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. "In the current situation, people in previous quarters classified as unemployed and people who actually lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic may, in this quarter, be classified as inactive. The unwillingness to start work, for reasons related to the pandemic , can lead to an increase in the inactive population", justifies INE.
The economically active population aged 15 or over increased by 5.0 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year, which corresponds to an increase of 745,778 people.
The activity rate increased 1.0 percentage point compared to the first quarter of 2020, corresponding to a relative change of 1.1 percent.
In Angola, the vast majority of employed people (80.2 percent) have informal employment, totaling 8 680 137 people.
