In the economic bulletin of March, BdP revised its outlook for the unemployment rate set at 7% in 2018 and anticipating it at 6.3% this year, 0.2 percentage points above what was forecast in March.

For 2020, the central bank expects an unemployment rate of 5.7% (5.5% estimated in March) and in 2021, the last year of the projection, it anticipates an unemployment rate of 5.3% (compared to the previous estimate of 5.2%).

BdP also anticipated the continuation of wage increases. "The gradual reduction of the resources available in the labour market and the increase in productivity should contribute to some acceleration of wages per worker along the horizon," the central bank said.

They added that, in addition to the evolution of available income, "private consumption should benefit, as in recent years, favourable funding conditions throughout the horizon, in particular, the maintenance of interest rates at historically low levels."

The Bank of Portugal maintained its forecast for economic growth to 2019, at 1.7%, but cut by a decimal point the estimate for 2020, anticipating investment recovery with some slowdown until the end of the projection period.