Labour market participation has decreased by almost 300,000, discouraged by the worsening economic outlook and the restrictions on mobility and production that remain in some sectors. Against this backdrop, the unemployment rate (which declined to 8.4 per cent in March, almost 1 percentage point lower than in February) does not provide a full picture of the true impact of the epidemic.
The fall in economic activity has reduced new employment opportunities, affecting above all young people entering the labour market for the first time, seasonal workers, fixed-term employees, and apprentices. It is having a greater impact on the jobs traditionally performed by self-employed workers and on undeclared labour, which is still too widespread in our country.