Unemployment in Malta rises amid COVID-19 crash

Jobless people registering for work increased by 353 last month as the first tangible impacts of COVID-19 started being felt on the economy.

The number of people registering for work with Jobsplus, a government agency, stood at 2,125 in March, an increase of 20% over the previous year.

Unemployment increased across all age groups, the National Statistics Office said on Tuesday.

The biggest increase, 80%, was among those registering for work for less than 21 weeks, when compared to the same month last year, signalling the immediate impact of the pandemic on economic operators.

The number of persons with a disability who were registering for work increased by 20 when compared to the previous year, reaching 239.

The largest share of males and females on the unemployment register sought occupations as clerical support workers, with 20% and 39% respectively.

Since the start of the pandemic in Malta on 7 March, various restrictive measures have been introduced to limit the spread of the infection.

All inward and outbound travel has been stopped, schools closed and various retail outlets and services prevented from opening and operating.

The situation has left many businesses with no or little income, prompting some to lay off workers.

Government introduced an economic rescue package last month by sustaining wages of some businesses. But while the measure has supported worker and self-employed incomes for some 60,000 people, many more have had to contend with pay cuts and redundancies.