Portuguese consumer levels drop – except with cars

According to the latest economic data from the Bank of Portugal, private consumption fell 0.3 per cent in relation to the same period in 2009.

Even so, sales for passenger vehicles actually rose 41.7 per cent compared to the second four-month period of last year.

The reduction in private consumption goes hand-in-hand with the level of unemployment – and according to the same study, based on data from the national statistics institute, unemployment has hit a new historic record: 10.6 per cent. In just one year, the number of unemployed workers in Portugal has grown by 82.000.

This translates to 224 people losing their jobs every day between June 2009 and the same month in 2010.

Portuguese between the ages of 35 and 44 are those that find the most difficulty finding work.

Today, there are more than 590.000 unemployed workers – with 326.000 of them looking for work for more than a year now. The north of Portugal and the Algarve are the areas most affected.