At 7,521 persons, registered unemployment in July 2009 increased by 1,563 when compared to the corresponding month last year.
In Malta, the registered unemployed amounted to 6,760 persons, whereas in Gozo these amounted to 761. In the twelve months to July 2009, both Malta and Gozo experienced an increase in unemployment (1,488 in Malta and 75 in Gozo).
With regard to persons registering for work in the twelve months to July 2009, the number of men increased by 1,195, whilst the number of women increased by 368.
In July 2009, the proportion of persons aged 45 and over who were registering for work in Malta was relatively higher than that in Gozo: 2,500 persons belonging to this age group out of a total of 6,760 registered unemployed are from Malta. On the other hand, the figures for Gozo include 226 persons aged 45 and over, out of a total of 761 registered unemployed.
Between July 2008 and July 2009, persons who have been registering for work for under 20 weeks increased by 787, as featured in Table 6. On the other hand, the number of registered unemployed in excess of 52 weeks increased by 228.
This release also provides information on the occupations being sought by the unemployed persons. Among men, occupations related to elementary duties, tradeswork and services were the most common, whereas women tended to seek jobs which were clerical or service-oriented.
The unemployment rates for July 2009 do not feature in this release since the administrative data on the labour supply for this month are not yet available.
In March 2009, the registered unemployment rate stood at 4.7 per cent of the labour supply. On a gender basis, the unemployment rate for men stood at 5.2 per cent, while the unemployment rate 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 1.5 per cent.
The unemployment rate among older workers (45 and over) was 4.5 per cent while the unemployment rate among young people (under 25) stood at 6.5 per cent.
