Unemployment climbed by 982 last month when compared to the same month in 2008 and reached 7,333, the NSO said today.

This included 6,573 persons in Malta and 760 in Gozo.

In the twelve months to October 2009, the persons registering for work in Malta increased by 910 (16.1 per cent), whilst those registering for work in Gozo went up by 72 (10.5 per cent).

Over the same period, the number of men on the unemployment register increased by 685 (13.7 per cent), whilst the number of women went up by 297 (22.2 per cent).

Between October 2008 and October 2009, all age groups saw an increase in the number of registered unemployed. The largest changes were reported amongst persons aged 45 years and over.

In the twelve months to October 2009, those persons who had been registering for work for under 20 weeks increased by 191 (6.3 per cent). On the other hand, the persons whose duration of unemployment exceeded the 52 weeks went up by 339 (15.8 per cent).

On a gender basis, the unemployment rate for men stood at 5.4 per cent, while the unemployment rate for women stood at 3.5 per cent. The long-term unemployment rate, referring to people who had been registering for work for more than twelve months, stood at 1.5 per cent. The unemployment rate among older workers (45 and over) stood at 4.9 per cent while the unemployment rate among young people (under 25) stood at 5.8 per cent.