Portugal labor minister sees across-the-board job creation

The economy created 290,000 jobs between 2016 and 2017 as its recovery from a 2011-14 debt crisis accelerated, lowering unemployment at one of the fastest rates in Europe and helping to boost Portuguese workers’ disposable incomes.

Average unemployment reached a nine-year low of 8.9 percent last year, down from a crisis-era high of 17 percent in 2013.

Labour and Social Security Minister Jose Antonio Vieira da Silva told Reuters “the goals that the government has fixed can be considered somewhat conservative in terms of job creation and the unemployment rate”. He cited? surveys of companies showing they are seeking to employ more workers.

During its bailout by the European Union and International Monetary Fund, Portugal was obliged to carry out labor market reforms — mainly cutting the cost of hiring and firing — to boost competitiveness.