Minister sees Portugal jobless rate resuming fall soon
LISBON (Reuters) - Despite a recent jump in joblessness that has cast a shadow over Portugal's economic recovery, the government still expects the unemployment rate to fall this year, possibly even beating its projection of 13.4 percent, the economy minister said.
Antonio Pires de Lima attributed the rise in the last quarter of 2014 and in the first two months of this year, to 14.1 percent in February, to seasonal factors and said the trend would reverse in the second and third quarters.
"We are confident that...due to the seasonal dynamics of the Portuguese economy the unemployment rate should fall again to settle at average levels not only below last year's 13.9 percent, but also below the average projected in the 2015 budget, of 13.4 percent," he told a parliament committee.
"We are working so that at the end of this legislature the unemployment rate can fall below the level of 12.7 percent that this government inherited from the previous administration" in 2011. Portugal faces a general election in September or October.
Following a modest 5 percent recovery in investment last year, when the economy grew for the first time after a three-year recession, Pires de Lima said further projected investment growth should spur jobs creation.
"The best way to create jobs is by attracting investment. We are working on attracting investment...this is the top priority," he said, citing ongoing investment by Brazil's jet maker Embraer in plants in Portugal.
After 2014's 0.9 percent growth, the government expects the economy to expand at least 1.5 percent in 2015.
With the elections coming, the minister called for an agreement between the ruling coalition and the main opposition Socialists on proposals that would ensure that investment does not get disrupted and would provide investors with a stable outlook.
Such proposals could include possible easing of income tax from record levels, further corporate tax reform, simplifying of insolvency rules and fiscal rules for investment, he said.
(Reporting By Andrei Khalip and Daniel Alvarenga; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
