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Portuguese unemployment to drop below 10 pct in Q1: minister

Xinhua, May 9, 2017 Adjust font size:

Portugal's Minister of Economy Manuel Caldeira Cabral on Tuesday said the country's unemployment rate will be below 10 percent in the first quarter of this year.

"Everything points to unemployment decreasing to below 10 percent," Caldeira Cabral said at the inauguration of Innovation Sintra, around 30 km from Lisbon.

"A positive evolution has taken place throughout the year due to strong creation of jobs in all age groups, but especially impacting youth unemployment," he added.

Eurostat recently revealed that Portugal's unemployment rate saw one of the biggest decreases in the eurozone in March, falling to 9.5 percent from 10.2 percent the previous month.

Tens of thousands of jobs in Portugal have been created since Prime Minister Antonio Costa took office in November 2015. However, growth was at a moderate 1.2 percent of GDP in 2016 and public debt is still very high, at over 130 percent. Endit