At 7,083 persons, registered unemployment in March 2009 increased by 915 persons when compared to the same month last year.

In Malta, the registered unemployed amounted to 6,301 persons, whereas in Gozo they amounted to 782. In the twelve months to March 2009, both Malta and Gozo experienced an increase in unemployment (863 in Malta and 52 in Gozo).

With regard to persons registering for work in the twelve months to March 2009, the number of men increased by 653, whilst the number of women increased by 262.

In the twelve months to March 2009, the number of persons registering for work increased across all the age groups.

Between March 2008 and March 2009, those persons who have been registering for work for under 20 weeks increased by 750. On the other hand, those persons who have been registering for work for more than 53 weeks dropped by 20.

This release also provides information on the occupations being sought by the unemployed persons. Among men, occupations related to elementary duties and services were the most common, whereas women tended to seek jobs which were service-oriented or clerical.

The unemployment rates for March 2009 do not feature in this release since the administrative data on the labour supply for this month is not yet available.

Registered Unemployment Rate: November 2008

In November 2008, the registered unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent of the labour supply. On a gender basis, the unemployment rate for men stood at 4.9 per cent, while the unemployment rate for women stood at 3.0 per cent.

The long-term unemployment rate, referring to people who have been registering for work for more than twelve months, stood at 1.4 per cent.

The unemployment rate among older workers (45 and over) was 4.1 per cent while the unemployment rate among young people (under 25) stood at 5.1 per cent.

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