LISBON, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent in the second quarter this year, the lowest since the first quarter of 2011, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Wednesday.
The INE said that the unemployment rate is 1.2 percentage points lower than the pervious quarter and 2.1 percentage points lower than the corresponding quarter in 2017.
Portugal's unemployment has been falling steadily in recent years after peaking at more than 17 percent in 2013, when the country suffered severe economic crisis and implemented harsh austerity under the 78-billion-euro bailout program with the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Cental Bank.
The Portuguese economy has been growing steadily with its unemployment rate falling continuously in recent years. The country registered 2.6 percent of economic growth in 2017.
