Work in Piacenza: employment is growing, participation in work increases, gender gaps are reduced. The unemployment rate remains high. However, according to Istat data processed by the statistics office of the Province of Piacenza, the evolution of the Piacenza labor market in 2023 was positive.
job market in Piacenza in 2023
Driven by services and the female component, the Piacenza job market experienced a particularly positive trend during 2023, highlighted by the increase in employment levels and the sustained growth of the workforce and activity rates. The stability of the unemployment rate must be seen in this dynamic context, which – although below the national average – still remains rather high, especially in comparison with that of the neighboring provinces.
Based on the estimates of the ISTAT1 labor force sample survey published on 13 March this year, there were approximately 130,000 employed residents in the province of Piacenza on average in 2023, an increase of almost 5 thousand units compared to the previous year, of which 2 thousand referred to male employment (from 72 to 74 thousand) and 3 thousand to female employment (from 53 to 56 thousand). The employment rate stands at 70.6% for the population aged 15 to 64, with an increase of 1.8 percentage points compared to the 2022 average, thus also exceeding the 2019 level (69.8%). In this context, it rises for men (+0.8 percentage points, to 78.4%), but rises even more for women (+2.8 points, to 62.6%).
work in Piacenza: higher unemployment rate FOR men
People looking for work, still on average in 2023, remained at 9 thousand units, the same number as in 2022. The overall provincial unemployment rate, which has shown a growing trend in recent years, is now equal to 6.4 %, essentially stable (0.1 percentage points less) compared to the previous year. However, while the female unemployment rate decreases, from 8.5 to 8.0 percent, the male unemployment rate increases, from 4.9% to 5.1%.
WOMEN’S WORK: THE GENDER GAP IS REDUCING
Finally, the people active on the labor market, measured by the “work force” aggregate (obtained by adding the employed and the people looking for work), were 138 thousand (+4 thousand), and present a rate of activity which stands at 75.5%, 1.9 percentage points more compared to 2022 and 1.5 points more than 2019. Also in this case, the evolution was more favorable for the female component, given that participation in the labor force increases more among women than among men, both in terms of absolute values (+3 thousand units versus +2 thousand) and in terms of indicators (+2.7 pp versus +1.1 pp the activity rate). Overall, the evolution experienced by female employment, activity and unemployment rates highlights on this occasion a significant reduction in gender gaps in favor of women.
LOGISTICS IN PIACENZA DRIVES EMPLOYMENT
The analysis of the provincial labor market carried out by disaggregating the data according to the different sectors of economic activity shows how the increase in employment overall observed in 2023 it depended above all from the evolution of employees in the “other services” sector (transport and logistics, personal and business services, hotels and restaurants), growing by almost 6 thousand units compared to 2022, and which, together with the (much less substantial) growth recorded in the construction (+0.4 thousand) and agriculture (+0.2 thousand) sectors, more than compensated for the negative trend highlighted by the industrial sector (-1.1 thousand) and commerce (-1.0 thousand) 2. Compared with the pre-pandemic phase, the overall balance is now positive for 1.7 thousand units. All sectors are above their respective employment levels recorded in 2019, with the sole exception of trade, which is struggling to reverse the trend, showing a loss of around 3 thousand employees here.
employees increasing in Piacenza
Regarding the position in the profession, during 2023 employees resident in the province of Piacenza increased by 1,900 units, reaching 102 thousand, over 3 thousand more than in 2019, while independents finally reverse the negative trend of previous years and increase by 2,300 units, however still remaining below pre-Covid levels.
PIACENZA AND THE OTHER REFERENCE CONTEXTS
Comparing ISTAT data at provincial level (https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/294796) the progress of the province of Piacenza is evident, especially in terms of employment and participation in the labor market, with the indicators are positioned at the top of the national ranking, which is not observed when referring to unemployment. The employment rate overall recorded in the 2023 average (70.6%, over 9 points more than the Italian figure and perfectly aligned on this occasion with the Emilia-Romagna average) in fact, it places Piacenza in 15th place in the ranking of the 107 Italian provinces and metropolitan cities, with a gain of seven positions compared to the previous year, always before Cremona (34th), Pavia (42nd) and Lodi (45th), and after Parma (7th) and Milan (12th).
The provincial territory did even better with reference to the activity rate (equal to 75.5%, now higher not only than the national figure – by almost 9 pp – but also the regional one, by 1.1 pp), which is the higher compared to the rates of the provinces close to us (including Milan and Parma), placing Piacenza in 4th place in the national ranking (+8 positions compared to 2022), after Bologna, Bolzano and Arezzo.
PIACENZA: THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE REMAINS HIGH
However, the Piacenza area continues to record an unsatisfactory ranking in relation to unemployment rate (6.4%, only 1.3 points less than the national average), placing it in 2023 in 54th place among the Italian provinces and losing 7 positions compared to a year earlier. Here the gap is particularly evident in comparison with Cremona (with a rate of 2.6%, second nationally after Bolzano with 2%), as well as with Parma and Lodi (both at 4%).
MALE AND FEMALE LABOR MARKET
In territorial comparisons, significant differences continue to exist also in 2023 between the male labor market and the female labor market. Considering men, Piacenza’s employment rate, equal to 78.4%, is in seventh position among the Italian provinces (tied with Cremona and surpassed only by Parma, first in the ranking), also higher than the average Emilian one and that of the metropolitan area Milanese; the activity rate, at 82.7%, is in third position in the national ranking (and in first place among the neighboring provinces). Instead, it is the unemployment rate (5.1%, increasing) that records an unsatisfactory performance compared to that of other contexts, 48th place at national level (12 more than in 2022) and last place in comparison with the neighboring territories.
Considering women instead, with the activity rate (68.1%) Piacenza is placed in 15th place, with the employment rate (62.6%) in 23rd, climbing 13 positions compared to the previous year, to instead fall to 57th position with reference to the unemployment rate (8.0%), where progress has been less evident. In 2023, compared with the female labor market in nearby areas, the situation in the Piacenza area was very positive (with respect to employment and activity rates we are second only to Milan) and in marked recovery compared to the previous year (in terms of earnings for 2022 only Cremona does better overall, especially with the unemployment rate).
