Malta registers largest unemployment decline in EU

Malta in August registered the largest annual drop in the number of unemployed from among the 27 member states, according to new figures issued by Eurostat this morning.

The EU’s statistical arm said that over a period of 12 months, Malta last August managed to slash by its unemployment rate by one per cent, the best overall performance in the EU.

In August, Malta’s unemployment rate stood at 6.2 per cent, down from 7.2 per cent in August last year.

Overall, Malta had the forth lowest unemployment rate in the EU, after Austria (4.3 per cent), the Netherlands (4.5 per cent) and Luxembourg (five per cent).

Eurostat said that the sharpest unemployment fall in Malta was registered among those aged under 25. In August the unemployment rate in this category stood at 11.2 per cent down from 14.8 per cent a year earlier.