Gozo jobless up 15% in one year

Unemployment in Gozo has gone up by 15 per cent over the past year, according to figures released by the National Office of Statistics.

The NSO said the number of people registered as unemployed was a constant 520 in May and June, up by 68 in a year.

In the Maltese islands, unemployment in June was 7,238, with the number of registered unemployed going down by 83 compared to May. However, it is 117 higher than in June last year.

The unemployment rate among young males in February stood at 9.2 per cent, while that of young females stood at 5.6 per cent. For both categories together the rate was 7.6 per cent.

The unemployment rate among older workers stood at 3.7 per cent - four per cent for older males and 2.6 per cent for older females.

The long-term unemployment rate stood at 2.1 per cent.

The statistics from the ETC administrative records indicated that the occupations mostly sought after by the registered unemployed in June were elementary, industrial, clerical, and service and sales occupations. This was consistent with previous years.

Men and women unemployed tended to differ in the occupations they sought, with men looking for more elementary and industrial occupations requiring physical effort and women generally going for clerical, service and sales jobs.