Italy's unemployment rate rose to 7.5% in February, up of by 0.2 of a percentage point on January, according to provisional data released by Istat on Wednesday, Azernews reports, citing ANSA.

The national statistics agency said the jobless rate for under-25s who are active on the labour market shot up by 0.7 of a point to 22.8%.

It added that the proportion of the population aged 15 to 64 who are not active on the labour market dropped by 0.2 of a point to 33.0%.

Italy's employment rate reached 61.9% in February, up 0.1 of a percentage point on the previous month, Istat said.That took the employment rate close to the record level of 62% registered in December.