An Algarve member of parliament in Passos Coelho's PSD, Cristóvão Norte, claims that the government simply has given up on boosting employment in the region.
Norte says that regional funds made available to the Institute do Emprego e Formação Profissional (IEFP) have been reduced and that 2,000 applications by companies to take on workers under IEFP schemes are sitting in a bottom draw waiting to be approved.
Norte and fellow Algarve MP José Carlos Barros, have questioned the government and regret that the IEFP budget had been "drastically reduced in the Algarve, by about €9 million."
"In 2015 the fund amounted to €39.3 million and of this, €35 million was used. For 2016, the budget assigned to the Algarve is €30.8 million," claim the MPs.
For those members, the drop in funds "has slowed IEFP activity to almost a standstill, in particular regarding employment and vocational training, a situation that unquestionably harms businesses and the unemployed of the region."
With the Algarve's main economic activity being tourism, there are "abundant applications, most of which are for internships and wage support. The high season is about to start and the applications are waiting to be approved, some of them have been waiting months," say the Algarve MPs who added that the situation currently is chaotic.
The PSD MPs say the Government is "penalising companies and the youth of the region by not supporting the hiring of workers and not supporting the integration of young people in companies through internships."
The overall male unemployment rate in Portugal has dropped by the end of March to under 12% for the first time since June 2011 - the month that the Troika took over Portugal’s finances.
The overall jobless rate fell 0.1% in March, according to provisional estimate from the National Statistics Institute, meaning that 615,200 people are without jobs.
The employed population fell to 4,475,900 people, which explains the slight fall in the unemployment rate which is reported as a percentage.
Male unemployment saw the biggest fall from 12.2% in February to 11.8% in March. For women the rate rose from 12.2% to 12.3%.
