Malta’s unemployment rate falls below 3,000 mark

The number of persons registering for work in December 2016 stood at 2,912 compared to 4,615 in the corresponding month of 2015.

Data provided by Jobsplus for December indicate a decrease of 1,489 persons registering under Part I and a decrease of 214 among those registering under Part II of the unemployment register, when compared to December 2015.

All age groups except those of under 20 registered decreases. When compared to December 2015, 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 by 44 to 354. Males accounted for 77.1 per cent of total registrants with a disability.

The largest share of males on the unemployment register sought occupations as craft and related trades workers (17.9 per cent) whereas the largest share of females on the unemployment register sought occupations as clerical support workers with 35.1 per cent.

The registered unemployment rate in June 2016 stood at 1.9 per cent of the labour supply, (excluding part-time employment), and varied from 2.2 per cent among men to 1.4 per cent among women.