Portugal's unemployment rate rose to 6.6% in the fourth quarter of last year up from 6.1% during the previous three months, official data showed on Wednesday.

The rate was the same as in the fourth quarter 2022.

For the whole year, the average rate rose to 6.5% up from 6.1% in 2022.

In the fourth quarter, the total number of those unemployed rose 8.7% from the previous three months to 354,600 people.

The total workforce fell 0.1% at 5.3 million people from previous quarter. (Reporting by Tiago Brandao; Editing by Inti Landauro)