Unemployment in Malta stable

Malta's unemployment figure remained stable last month, according to figures published by Eurostat yesterday.

In June, Malta registered an unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent, the same as in May and lower than the average in the euro area which stood at 7.3 per cent in June. This was unchanged from May and slightly down from the 7.4 per cent in June 2007.

The EU's statistics office said that on the basis of a 12-month average, Malta continued to register a drop in the number of persons registering for work. In June 2007, the number of unemployed was almost one per cent higher, at 6.5 per cent.

The EU27 unemployment rate was 6.8 per cent in June 2008, unchanged when compared with May. It was 7.1 per cent in June 2007.

Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were registered in Denmark (2.6 per cent) and the Netherlands (2.8 per cent) and the highest in Spain (10.7 per cent) and Slovakia (10.5 per cent).