Malta unemployment well below EU average

Unemployment in Malta in September stood at 7.2%, well below the euro area average of 9.7% and the EU average of 9.2%, Eurostat figures issued today show.

The Maltese unemployment rate was unchanged from August and marginally down from the 7.3 percent in June and July. Unemployment on September 2008 was 5.8%.

The euro area unemployment was 9.7% in September 2009, compared with 9.6% in August and 7.7% in September 2008. The EU271 unemployment rate was 9.2% in September 2009, compared with 9.1% in August3. It was 7.1% in September 2008. For the euro area this is the highest rate since January 1999 and for the EU27 since the start of the series in January 2000.

The figures mean that 22.1 million men and women in the EU27 are out of work, of whom15.3 million are in the euro area.

The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (3.6%) and Austria (4.8%), and the highest rates in Latvia (19.7%) and Spain (19.3%).

Compared with a year ago, all member states recorded an increase in their unemployment rate. The smallest increases were observed in Germany (7.1% to 7.6%), Italy (6.8% to 7.4% between the second quarters of 2008 and 2009) and Belgium (7.3% to 7.9%). The highest increases were registered in Latvia (8.1% to 19.7%) and Estonia (4.1% to 13.3% between the second quarters of 2008 and 2009).