Unemployment: facts and figures

Statistics issued on September 23 by the National Statistics Office show an increase in the number of registered unemployed in August when compared to the previous month. The number of unemployed rose by 138 in August. The list increased from 7,914 in July 2003 to 8,052 in August 2003.

The increase turned out to be much greater when compared to the same month last year. When comparing the number of registered unemployed in August 2002 and August 2003, one can see an increase of 640 during this one-year period.

In December 1997, the total number of people claiming they were unemployed stood at 7,693. Of these, 6,475 were males and the rest females. In December 1998, there were 7,910 people registering as unemployed, while in 1999, the number climbed to 8,306.

In 2000 the number of unemployed dropped by over 1,100 to 7,188. Of these, 6,142 were males while 1,046 were females. Since then, the number of unemployed continued to increase but did not reach the 1999 figure.

In 2001, the number of unemployed as at December stood at 7,433 while the following year, this figure rose slightly to 7,516. Comparing figures available for July 2002 and July 2003, one could also see an increase of around 700 people. In July 2002, the total stood at 7,177, while in July 2003, the figure was 7,914.

(Note: all the figures mentioned above cover both part 1 and 2 of the unemployment register)

What is the unemployment register?

Those who are jobless are given some form of cash allowance from the government. People registering on the unemployment list can either register under part one or part two of the list.

¤ Part 1: Those registering under this part of the list are either new job-seekers who have just left school, those who stopped working for a period and would like to start again, or those who lost their job and have been made redundant.

¤ Part 2: These are either people who have been dismissed from work as a result of disciplinary action, those who left of their own free will, those who refused work or training opportunities or were struck off the register after an inspection by the law enforcement personnel.

Last July, there were 6,557 people registering for work under part one of the register. Of these, 6,102 were from Malta and 455 were Gozitan. A year later, this increased by more than 500 in Malta (6,647) and by nearly 100 in Gozo (539).

The number of Gozitan women registering on the unemployment list increased from 80 in July 2002 to 128 in July 2003. The number of Gozitan males also increased from 375 to 411 in this one-year period.

Between August 2002 and August 2003, the number of people registering for unemployment under Part 1 increased by 658 from 6,748 to 7,406. The list increased by 370 males and 188 females. In Gozo, there was also an increase of people registering for employment. The 377 males increased to 408 while the 90 females increased to 159.

When seeing the latest statistics for this August in more detail, one can immediately notice that the largest number of people on the unemployment list are in the 30-44 age bracket. In this age bracket, the total number of people registering for work reached 2,429. This age bracket is followed by those aged over 45 with a total of 1,948 people.

A total of 1,172 people are between 20 and 24 years old, followed by 976 who are under 20 and finally 881 who are between 25 and 29 years old.

The largest number of males registering on the unemployment list is between 30 and 44 years of age while the largest number of females are under 20 - four years after officially leaving school. In Gozo the largest group of women registering for unemployment under this part is in the 20-24 age bracket, with a total of 49 on the list.

This is closely followed by those under 20 years old (41) and those who are between 30 and 44 years old (38). Eleven women are over 45 years old, 124 men are between 30 and 44, 83 are over 45, 77 are between 20 and 24 and 63 are between 25 and 29.

This August broke the record for women registering on Part 1 of the unemployment list since 1997. The 1,617 females on the list surpassed the 1,518 in July 2003, 1,360 in August 2002, 1,303 in July 2002, 1,102 in December 1997, 1,007 in December 1998, 1,084 in December 1999, 918 in December 2000, 1,107 in December 2001 and 1,172 in December 2002.

Figures for Part Two of the register show a slight improvement - a decrease of 18 persons when comparing August 2003 with the previous August. This August the figure stood at 646 (622 in Malta and 24 in Gozo) while last August 664 were registering (634 in Malta and 30 in Gozo). While in August 2002, 502 were male and 182 were female, in August 2003 there were 462 males and 184 females.

In August 2003, the majority of people registering for unemployment under this part of the unemployment register (167) were in the 20 to 24 year age gap. This age bracket was closely followed by those between 30 and 44 years old (151) and those under 20 (147). A total of 92 people registering under this part of the register were between 25 and 39 while 89 were over 45 years old.

When comparing figures available for July 2002 and July 2003, one could see an increase of 108 people, up from 620 people in July 2002 to 728 people in last July. In December 1997 the figure stood at 544, 473 in December 1998, 611 in December 1999 and 605 in December 2000. In December 2001, this part of the list had a total of 680 people listed on it while in December 2002 there were 742 people whose name appeared on this part of the list.

Duration of registration

Out of 7,406 people whose name appeared on Part 1 of the register in August 2003, 3,147 have been registering for work for less than 20 weeks. There were 1,391 people who have been registering for work under this part for between 21 and 52 weeks, while 2,868 have been registering for 53 weeks and over.

Analysing the duration of registration for those figures available for August 2002, one could see that out of the total of 6,748 people, 2,366 have been registering for less than 20 weeks, 1,467 between 21 and 52 weeks and 2,915 have been registering for more than 53 weeks.

From the total of 646 people registering under part two, 584 have been doing so for less than 20 weeks while 62 have been registering for more than 21 weeks.

Unemployment benefits

Persons who used to work on a service contract basis (employed) and therefore paid Class I contributions, and who satisfy a contribution test as explained in paragraph 6 below, are entitled to receive unemployment benefit, on condition that they are registering for employment under the Part 1 register kept by the Employment and Training Corporation.

The rate payable to persons under pension age for unemployment is Lm2.38 per day, while that payable to persons under pension age for special unemployment is Lm4 per day.

If you maintain your spouse, who is unemployed, or you are a single parent, the rate payable for unemployment is Lm3.66 per day, while that for special unemployment is Lm6.14. The payment is based on each day of unemployment, excluding Sundays.

For you to qualify for unemployment benefit or special unemployment benefit, you are to satisfy the following contribution conditions. These are:

(a) that you have paid not less than 50 contributions since you entered the Social Security scheme (contributions paid during self-occupation are ignored) and

(b) that you have paid or have at least 20 contributions or contribution credits in the last two full contribution years immediately before the start of the benefit year during which the claim is submitted.

Contribution year starts on the first Monday of January of any year and ends on the last Sunday before the first Monday of January of the following. Benefit year starts on the first Monday of July of any year and ends on the last Sunday before the first Monday of July of the following year.

CSB Recruitment Agency has been supporting the local business community with its services since 1987. For further information you can write to us at Vincenti Buildings, 14/19 Strait Street, Valletta VLT 08, or call us on 2122-5800 or 2124-6543, fax: 2123-0520, e-mail: jobs@vacancycentre. com, or visit www.VacancyCentre. com.