Unemployment drops by 845 in February

Demanuele Paul

Mar 25th 2008, 23:46

To mark camilleri:-

just check this website to understand whether I am right or not:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3513889.stm

In brief, not all "old" EU countries do not open up their labour markets for inflow of workers from newer EU member states. check your facts please.

Apologies to come back to you - but I think it is importnat.

JOHN SCERRI

Mar 25th 2008, 21:30

It is always a relief for us taxpayers to see the unemployment figure go down . In the long run there will be more people having purchasing power, paying taxes, paying national insurance contributions all of which stimulate the economy to move forward.
On the other hand one must seriously tackle the issue of those so called, in economic terms, - The Permanently Unemployed , meaning those who refuse all that is offered to them by the job centers.
They refuse to learn any skill . Yet they expect the unemployment benefits at all costs. It is high time a strict regime is created to identify loopholes which may lead to abuse by persons who are registering for work, receiving benefits but at the same time doing jobs and not paying taxes and NI contrib. This chronic condition has always existed but unfortunately measures to eliminate it were not very effective.
Lets hope someone of the 65 MPs will initiate a brainstorming session where ideas from both sides can be put together for this cause.

Emanuel Bajada

Mar 25th 2008, 20:29

Since it is the trend now to separate Gozo and Malta in statistics and other reasons- we even wrongly call our state Malta u Ghawdex and its population Maltin u Ghawdxin-then it is also legitimate to analayse the labour situation separately . Add the 1000 from Gozo island who are employed on mainland Malta as wanting a job in Gozo - hence looking for employment-(read unemployed) -totaling that to the 750 + registering for work. Result is over 1750+ who actually want a job in Gozo. And we are not counting many more housewives and other who just have given up in getting a steady job on Gozo, who would otherwise would stand up to be counted as wanting a job.

André Xuereb

Mar 25th 2008, 20:16

As one of the "thousands" of Maltese living abroad might I say that many of us are here to study -- in my case, I am reading for a PhD in an area of physics that is basically off-limits at the University of Malta due to lack of funds (and rightly so; we cannot divert millions of Euros into small projects).

Andrew Camilleri

Mar 25th 2008, 17:59

I cannot understand how Gozitans working in Malta=Gozitans working abroad=unemplyed Gozitans. Once they are working, they cannot be unemplyed (its only logical). And Malta isn't exactly abroad. Unless we all still like to think that our village is the centre of the world and everything should be done within the confines of our little heaven. And we forget the islands are, in fact, pretty small. If Malta is abroad with respect to Gozo, then what are Marseille and Paris with respect to one another, for example?

Albert gauci Cunningham

Mar 25th 2008, 16:11

Yes Mr.Mifsud next you'll be telling us that the unemployment figures are down because the PN murdered some of the unemployed in an ETC office one morning..............and then obviously we'll join our friends writing about JPO as if he killed their cat on another blog and say that Gonzi should resign and call fresh elections.........what a nation!! what a Party!!! The above figures are good news to all those who want to see malta progress and bad news to those who seem to talk and talk and talk about change but never seem to change themselves........had unemployment increased we some would already be pontificating about how honest and right and truthful our ex -MLP leader was...........

Saviour Grech

Mar 25th 2008, 15:12

For quite some time the unemplyment rate in Gozo has been going up while the unemployement rate in Malta is going down. As Emmanuel Bajada has correctly commented the employment situation is very worrying. Something needs to be done urgently to try to reverse the situation.

Wayne Hewitt

Mar 25th 2008, 15:04

People who WANT to work, will always find work in Malta right now. The majority of people who are moving abroad, are doing so because of better return. It is a known fact that here in Malta you have to work 3 times as hard as the EU average only to get one third of the return

So well done Malta for keeping the unemployment rate low. The challenge now is to provide the local marketplace with far better paying jobs

Mark Camilleri

Mar 25th 2008, 14:50

Dear Mr. Demanuele,

What you are saying is simply not true. No EU country can refuse a work permit to an EU citizen. That's the fundamental point of the freedom of movement act!

Renald Micallef

Mar 25th 2008, 14:21

How more pathetic can people be? Instead of being happy that unemployment is dropping we have to find something to talk about! If we were to speak about those 9,000(assuming to Mr.Micallef) that are working in the EU, shall we not speak about the hundreds that are registered as unemployed and they work undercover? Shall we also not speak of thousands of youth people who enter the workforce annually? These new workers instead of increasing the unemployment figure, are being absorbed by a growing economy Get a life please! Maltese gemgem...

Emanuel Bajada

Mar 25th 2008, 14:04

2 out of every 15 unemployed are in Gozo. If one considers that around another 1000 gozitans work in Malta - read working abroad brings unemployment to near the 20 per cent. Unemployment situation in Gozo is really worrying.

Demanuele Paul

Mar 25th 2008, 13:35

I think M Micalef has a point, although need to be carefuly how to interprete it.

If I remember correclty only certain countries opened theri door for new EU member workers to move freely, including UK and Ireland - where most Maltese have gone. Now let's assume UK and Ireland decided to do like the other countries and keep their door shut, where would these 9,000 or so workers be? Will they be on our unemployment register?

M Micallef

Mar 25th 2008, 13:19

Of course, people may move out of Malta for various reasons - but possibly one of them could well be that they couldn't find what they wanted here.

But, more then this, what I meant is that before we joined the EU, there wasn't this freedom of movement - and therefore the 9,000 or so Maltese who left due to this freedom of movement are surely relieving the situation when it comes Unemployment statistics.

Also it is a well known fact that the net flow was outside the country not inside (at least for those legally registered to work).

John Grima

Mar 25th 2008, 13:17

Maybe it is a case of finding better job opportunities abroad that can be ever available in Malta.

Josef Pullicino

Mar 25th 2008, 13:14

Dear all,

When the unemployment rate stood at high levels, there were criticisms from all around. Now that this rate is becoming to an acceptable one, you still have someone criticizing of what might be the reason why it is dropping so much. You have to accept the facts, accept that Malta has turned into a country with a strong economy, in which all type of jobs can be found. Today, you can find a job in the least effort possible; that person that does not find one, is the one that does not want to work.....

Peter Cremona

Mar 25th 2008, 12:59

M Micallef, do you have proof to state that 9,000 people had to work overseas because they could not find jobs in Malta?, could it be that they want to gain further experience working in different countries within the EU?, one of the positives by joining the EU.

A. Demanuele

Mar 25th 2008, 12:46

Mr.Micallef whilst you have every right to express your opinion it would be responsible if you express it in a contextual manner. The 9,000 you mention didn't go abroad in the past 12 months mentioned in the report only.
The unemployment measure shows you how many people are willing to work but are registering for work. The fact that this decreased is a good sign. Including those Maltese who left the island to work requires a much wider study, which would also have to include those foreigners who came to work in Malta.

Luke Buttigieg

Mar 25th 2008, 12:44

I don't believe that the only reason for working abroad is because the desired job couldn't be found in Malta. Some people move to a foreign country just for the fun of it, and to try out something new. Perhaps the desired job is not needed in Malta. I think it's rather juvenile to blame people moving abroad because of that only.

Micallef M

Mar 25th 2008, 11:47

How many people are going to work abroad?

This was evident during election. Around 9,000 people were expected to travel back from the EU to vote.

I am in favour of people being free to work where they want to. But 9,000 Maltese working abroad since we are in EU may actually mean that 9,000 couldn't find the employment they desired here - and had to move away. Hence the drop in unemployment.