4,916 registered as unemployed in October

In October 2015, the number of persons registering for work stood at 4,916 compared to 6,596 in the corresponding month last year.

Data provided by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) for October indicate a decrease of 1657 persons registering under Part I and a decline of 23 among those registering under Part II of the unemployment register, when compared to October 2014. Overall, decreases in registered unemployment were recorded among all age groups.

When compared to October last year, registrants for work decreased irrespective of how long they had been registering. The largest decrease was recorded among persons who had been registering for over one year. The number of persons with a disability who were registering for work also decreased and stood at 390 from 458 in 2014. Males accounted for 80.8 per cent of total registrants with a disability.

The largest share of males on the unemployment register sought occupations as crafts and related trade workers (18.3 per cent), whereas their female counterparts mostly sought occupations as clerical support workers (28.2 per cent).

The registered unemployment rate in May 2015 stood at 3.1 per cent of the labour supply (excluding part-time employment), and varied from 3.6 per cent among men to 2.2 per cent among women.