Unemployment at its lowest, but jobseekers want to work more

Malta continues to enjoy one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU, but fresh Eurostat figures show that labour market slack is seeing an upward trend locally as more people struggle to find adequate work arrangements. 

Labour market slack consists of an unmet need for work, encompassing the unemployed, underemployed, and those seeking work but who are not immediately available to begin employment.

In this respect, Malta experienced the eight highest percentage increase in total labour market slack, rising from 6.4% to 9.9% between quarter two and three of 2020. In the third quarter of 2019, labour market slack stood at 5.4%.

In absolute figures, Malta's labour market slack for quarter three last year was the third lowest figure in the bloc.

Malta's unemployment rate is the seventh lowest in the EU at 4.5%, experiencing a slight increase of 0.3 percentage points between the second and third quarter of 2020. However, every member state bar Greece and North Macedonia experienced an increase in unemployment between 2019 and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Work absences in Malta were also the lowest in the continent, both in quarter two and quarter three last year. In the former, work absences stood at around 4% of employment, and in the third quarter it dipped to roughly 2%. 

For comparison, the EU average in quarter two stood at around 18% of employment, proceeding to fall to 9% in the following quarter.