Actually, the Algarve was the only region in Portugal to register positive results precisely because of the seasonal cycle that sees the creation of a large number of temp jobs directly connected to the tourism sector.

According to data from the Institute of Employment and Professional Training – IEFP – the month of July saw 25,928 unemployed individuals in the region, representing a 6.9% and a 1.4% drop when compared to June 2013 and July 2012.

The region is enjoying an overall tourism boom this summer season with information from the Association of Hotels and Resorts of the Algarve – AHETA – reporting occupancy rate per room in July was 81,6% which means a 3.7% increase when compared with the same month in 2012.

The data from the IEFT also shows a large increase in the number of individuals searching for their first job. These individuals number 58,722 now, indicating a 17.5% and 2.9% hike when compared with the same period in 2012 and June this year, respectively.

When it comes to those individuals who have lost their jobs in the past year and are now looking for work, there’s been a 4% increase in July compared to 2012, but a 0.6% decrease in relation to June. These individuals make up 629,377 of the jobless population.

The bane of the population still continues to be long-term unemployment. The data from this point is not very optimistic, recording a 1.1% increase in July compared to June and a 27.1% rise when compared to July of 2012. Long-term unemployment means being out of a job for more than 12 months and almost half the people signed up at job centres are affected by it.

Overall the country’s unemployment rate was down to 16.4% in the second quarter of 2013, from 17.5% in the first quarter.

The optimism for future tourism is increasing in the country, and especially in the Algarve seeing as how a large percentage of the increased tourism is in the region.

There’s a 20% growth in occupancy levels for hotels and resorts – overall – with foreign bookings increasing through the biggest tour operators.

Many tourist establishments in the Algarve have reported successful occupancy rates, some establishments predicting that 90% of their accommodations will be booked throughout the summer, while most of them confirming a positive trend in their bookings.

The Quinta do Lago golf resort revealed that it has an occupancy rate for rental villas and town homes of around 85% at the present time and that the increase in golf rounds has contributed to this higher traffic. They also added that a lot of the business was in the peak months of July and August and it was made mostly of last-minute bookings.

Desiderio Silva – president of the Algarve Tourism Board and an official who we often-times talk about here – stressed that the tourism boost to the region is thanks to the divergence of clients from the Arabian tourist destinations, who now choose European alternatives.

The occupancy rate per room reported by AHETA – the Association of Hotels and Resorts of the Algarve – was 81.6% which means a 3.7% increase from the same month in 2012, however it also showed a rather sharp contrast between foreign and national markets.

There was an important increase in the number of Irish, Dutch and British tourists to the Algarve, their numbers increasing by 29.3%, 21.1% and 17.1%, respectively – those are some serious numbers – while Portuguese and Spanish visitors decreased by almost 10%, most likely an indication of the difficult economic times that the Iberian Peninsula citizens are facing.