Employment Ministry says Farrugia read statistics on social benefits wrongly

Statistics published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) revealed that government spending on unemployment is one reason why the exorbitant amount spent on social benefits in the first six months of this year increased by €22 million, up by 6.3% from the same period in 2009.

Labour Deputy leader Anglu Farrugia said in a statement this morning “The large amount spent on unemployment benefits is indicative of the precarious situation in the employment sphere during the first six months of 2010, where people are still finding it difficult to find work.”

In response to this, a ministry spokesperson said, on statistics published by the National Statistics Office (NSO), that the number of people registering for work in fact decreased, not increased. “Statistics show that in 12 months, around 498 less people registered for work compared to June of last year.”

Statistics on Social Assistance, also referred to by Farrugia, don’t only include those who have been unemployed for a while, but also those who cannot find work as a result of sickness or disabilities as well as single mothers, the Ministry said.

“The deputy leader didn’t take notice of these other categories, and just assumed the increase in social benefits was for those who cannot find work…he read the statistics wrongly and arrived at the wrong conclusions,” the Ministry said.