Work: Istat, -101 thousand employed in the first quarter

 In the first quarter of the year, the number of people employed decreased by 101 thousand units (-0.4%) compared to the previous quarter. The growth of permanent employees (+50 thousand, + 0.3%) is offset by the significant decrease in fixed-term employees (-123 thousand, -4.1%) and that, less pronounced, of independent workers (-28 thousand , -0.5%).
    The employment rate is 58.8%, down 0.2 points from the fourth quarter of 2019. Istat notes this, stressing that the dynamics of the labor market in the first quarter are affected, starting from the last week in February, "of the serious disturbances induced by the health emergency". In the trend, the growth in the number of employees slowed down, +52 thousand compared to the first quarter of 2019 (+ 0.2%,).