This was the first time since 2008 October that numbers this low have been seen the IEPF said.

Some 47,979 young people were out of woirk in October, which is 21.1% down on a year ago.

The number of long-term unemployed was 199,869 people in October, below 200,000 for the first time since the beginning of 2011, a 16.4% year-on-year decrease (39,116 fewer people) and 2.7% in monthly terms (5,456 fewer).

Unemployment decreased most in the Algarve (27.3% less).

Regarding the economic sectors, 69.4% of registered people in unemployment centres had worked in sectors such as services (69.4%), industry (24.6%) and agricultural (4.7%). Unemployment declined in the three sectors compared with the same month of 2016.