Malta with second lowest unemployment rate in the EU

Unemployment figures fell to 3.5% of the population in the month of October, a drop of 26.8% since the same month last year. The latest figures mean Malta has leapfrogged Germany to second place in the EU’s unemployment ranking. The Czech Republic is the only country with  a lower unemployment rate at 2.7%.

Overall, the number of individuals seeking work stood at 3,166 in October 2016, falling to 2,319 by October of this year.  A decrease was registered among all age groups, with the largest drop registered among 25-29 year-olds – a 44% decrease.

(Source: Eurostat)

A breakdown of the figure by the duration of unemployment indicates that while progress was made in all categories, those registered as unemployed for over a year, showed the lowest decrease, at 6% compared to 41% drop among those who have been registered as unemployed for 21 to 52 weeks.

The number of individuals with a disability who were unemployed fell by 19.5% from 367 to 295 since October last year.

Among the most commonly sought occupations by those registering for work were clerical support workers (24%), service workers and sales workers (16%) and technicians and associate professionals (14%).