Finance Minister says rate of unemployment stable, shadow minister insists otherwise

Unemployment figures were being incorrectly interpreted by the media and politicians, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna declared in parliament this evening.

Referring to news reports which appeared in PN media and other independent media, Scicluna said "the real picture" was not being correctly depicted.

"Unemployment is not on the rise, but it is stable. It stood at 6.4% during 2012 and remained the same last year," he said, adding that in the past the unemployment rate had hit the 7%.

In attempts to placate concerns that unemployment was rising, Scicluna said that 40% of people who were out of work actually did not register themselves as unemployed on the register of the Employment and Training Corporation, meaning the ETC register did not accurately reflect national unemployment trends.

“The real unemployment picture can only be judged by changes in the total of all persons unemployed and not only by those who register," he added.

But in a reaction, former finance minister Tonio Fenech said no one was contesting the fact that the "current economy" was creating jobs.

"It's a fact that jobs are being created. But reality is that not enough work is being created so that the unemployment rate as we were used to it being so low, is retained," Fenech said.

He said that Malta was used to a rate of unemployment decreasing, "whilst now we are seeing it on the rise".

"Have we reached an alarming situation? Is it a crisis or a panic station? No one is saying that. But we are seeing a government which is not as concerned as it should be that unemployment is on the rise."

Fenech's comments come as the government reported an average increase of 19 full-time jobs created on a daily basis.

However, the former minister said that while the government was "more focused on the percentage points", it should also understand that people in search of a job were not numbers.

"Information by the national statistics office on the gainfully occupied show that the registered unemployed have increased by 636. And while work is being generated, the biggest increase was within the public sector."

According to statistics issued by the Employment and Training Corporation, there was a 1,060 increase in the public sector. According to government, 710 of these were employed between November 2010 and February 2013 - at the thick of a political crisis and an electoral campaign.

However, Fenech insisted that the Nationalist administration had implemented a programme whereby jobs within the public sector decreased by 1,000 from the 41,000 that were employed in 2011.

"Under the Labour administration, the biggest increase in employment was registered in the private sector. Statistics for August 2013 show that employment in the private sector grew seven times more than the previous year," the government said.

Fenech argued, that jobs created have to be "more productive". Welcoming the fact that the financial services sector, online gaming and administrative sectors were still a source of quality jobs, other sectors such as construction had registered a decline.

In a dig at the cash-for-passport scheme, Fenech said the Nationalist administration didn't require to sell Maltese citizenship to attract investors who invested in the Maltese economy and created work.

Fenech also described Finance Minister Edward Scicluna as "an agent" for the implementation of the European Union's country specific recommendations.

"We had a clear 'roadmap' for the creation of work. On the other hand, Scicluna speaks about CSRs. Since when have finance ministers become agents to implement what the EU says? Of course it's important to implement them, but what the EU says is generic."

By way of example, Fenech said the CSRs say that a country has to be competitive, but then it's up to the member state to determine the how.