MaltaMedia.com

At 7,606, registered unemployment in April increased by 396 or 5.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding month last year, and by 50 or 0.7 per cent over the preceding month, the NSO revealed on Wednesday.

In Malta, registered unemployed totalled 6,852, whereas in Gozo the registered unemployed amounted to 754. In the twelve months to April 2010, unemployment rose in mainland Malta, with an increase of 425 registered unemployed, compared to a drop of 29 persons in Gozo.

In the twelve months to April 2010, unemployment decreased among the younger population, but increased with respect to older persons. In fact, there was a drop of 28 within the age group of persons aged Under 20 and a further drop of 55 within the 20-24 age group.

On the other hand, there was an increase of 41 within the 25-29 age group, a further increase of 62 within the 30-44 age group, and a further increase of 376 within the age group of persons aged 45 and over. Month on month, the figures of the registered unemployed also showed a similar trend, with a drop ofpersons within the younger age groups and a rise of unemployed persons within the older age groups.

Year on year, those on the unemployment register for over one year increased by 421, or 18.5 per cent. On the other hand, those persons registering for employment for up to 20 weeks decreased by 110, or 3.2 per cent. This release also provides information on the occupations being sought by the unemployed. Among men, occupations related to trades and services were the most common, whereas women sought more clerical or service-oriented jobs.

In November 2009, the registered unemployment rate stood at 5.0 per cent of the labour supply. On a gender basis, the unemployment rate for men stood at 5.7 per cent, while that for women stood at 3.5 per cent. The long-term unemployment rate, referring to people who have been registering for work for more than twelve months, stood at 1.7 per cent.

The unemployment rate among older workers (45 years of age and over) was 5.0 per cent while that among young people (under 25 years of age) stood at 6.3 per cent.