Italian Unemployment Rises to Nearly 10 Per Cent Under Leftist Coalition

Italy's premier-designate Giuseppe Conte reacts as he starts to read the list of his
FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

The Italian unemployment rate is on the rise according to new statistics that put the rate up to 9.9 per cent under the leftist coalition of the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic Party (PD).

The Italian National Institute of Statistics has reported that the unemployment rate grew by 0.3 per cent in September and that youth unemployment, those aged 15 top 24, is now at a staggering 28.7 per cent, Italian newspaper Il Giornale reports.

“After the employment growth recorded in the first half of the year and the peak reached in June, starting from July the employment levels are in slight but constant decline, with the loss of 60,000 employed between July and September,” the report states.

The vast majority of employment growth took place under the previous coalition government of the Five Star Movement with Matteo Salvini’s League (Lega) which ended in mid-August when Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned as Prime Minister.

Italy has one of the highest unemployment rates in the European Union, behind only Spain and Greece according to Eurostat figures released in early October.

Italy has also seen a “brain drain” of medical professionals in recent years as over 10,000 doctors and around 8,000 nurses have travelled overseas, further impacting the Italian economy as a whole.

During the previous coalition, Mr Salvini attempted to pass a flat tax in order to boost the economy and reduce unemployment but was unable to secure the legislation before the fall of the government in August.

Italy is not the only country in the EU to see a rise in unemployment numbers, with Sweden having also seen increases in unemployment and migrants having a far higher rate than native-born Swedes. The Scandinavian country now rivals countries like France and Italy in terms of joblessness.

Even Germany, the economic powerhouse of Europe, saw a rise in jobless numbers in July, with the German Federal Employment Agency noting a five per cent unemployment rate as some fear that Germany may have already entered a recession in September.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com

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