Unemployment in Malta has continued to decrease in June waning to 6.5 per cent, the lowest in the past 12 months.

According to new EU statistics issued today in Brussels, Malta has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU and is only outdone by Austria (3.9 per cent), the Netherlands (4.4 per cent) and Luxembourg (5.3 per cent) among the 27 member states.

Eurostat said that in June Malta managed to further lower its unemployment rate by 0.2 per cent from 6.7 per cent in May and 7.2 per cent in June 2009.

Malta’s unemployment figures have decreased across the board.

Youth unemployment decreased to 13.1 from 13.9 per cent in May, while both male and female unemployment decreased to 6.5 per cent from 6.7 per cent, respectively.

In the EU while unemployment remained stable in the euro area, at a record high of 10 per cent, it increased in the past year from 9.5 per cent in June 2009.

Compared to a year ago, four EU member states recorded a fall in the unemployment rate, one remained stable and 22 showed an increase.

The largest falls were observed in Austria (5.1 to 3.9 per cent), Malta (7.2 to 6.5 per cent) and Germany (7.7 to 7 per cent). The highest increases were registered in Estonia (11 to 19.0 per cent) and Latvia (13.4 to 20 per cent).

Eurostat estimates that 23 million men and women in the EU27, including 15.7 million in the euro area, were unemployed in June 2010.