Malta has fourth lowest jobless rate in EU

The unemployment rate went down to 6.5 per cent in June, the lowest in the past 12 months and the fourth lowest in the EU.

According to new EU statistics issued in Brussels, Malta is only outdone by Austria (3.9 per cent), the Netherlands (4.4 per cent) and Luxembourg (5.3 per cent).

Its rate fell by 0.2 per cent from 6.7 per cent in May and from 7.2 per cent in June of last year.

Malta's unemployment figures have dropped across the board. The number of people under 25 looking for jobs fell to 13.1 per cent from 13.9 in May, while both male and female unemployment witnessed a drop.

In the euro area, unemployment has stayed at a record high of 10 per cent. Four EU member states recorded a fall in the rate compared to a year ago, one remained stable and 22 registered an increase.

The largest drops were seen 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 per cent) and Latvia (13.4 to 20 per cent).

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