Portuguese official unemployment rate rises to 16.9%

The Portuguese unemployment rate rose sharply in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 16.9 percent from 15.8 percent in the third quarter, data from the national statistics institute Ine showed on Wednesday.

For the whole of 2012 the rate was 15.8 percent, slightly above the figure estimated by the government and by Portugal’s creditors which had foreseen 15.5 percent.