LISBON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The Portuguese Public Finances Council (CFP), an independent administrative entity, said on Wednesday that the country's unemployment rate may increase by between 11 percent and 13.1 percent this year due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The labor market conditions are expected to reflect the evolution of economic activity in 2020-2022," said the report entitled "Economic and Budget Outlook 2020-2022."

The CFP said that, in the best-case scenario, the employment rate may decrease by 5 percent and the unemployment rate may increase by 11 percent among the active population in 2020.

In the worst-case scenario, the official body that oversees budget rules and public finances estimated that "the recession in 2020 could lead to a 7.2 percent employment contraction and an unemployment rate increase to 13.1 percent."

Looking ahead to 2021 and 2022, the CFP said that the unemployment rate may decrease by 9 percent next year and by 8.1 percent in 2022 (best-case scenario). The respective figures for the worst-case scenario are a decline of 10.8 percent in 2021 and of 9.5 percent of the working population in 2022.

"The subsequent recovery of employment in this scenario is slower, reflecting a greater rigidity in the labor market," the CFP concluded.

Meanwhile, Portugal reported 11 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 1,944. There were 366 new infections, 33,261 in total, according to the epidemiological bulletin released by the Directorate-General for Health on Wednesday.