The registered unemployment in September decreased by 866 people when compared to the corresponding month last year, but increased by 66 over August, the National Statistics Office said.

The NSO said that in the 12-month period to September, the number of registered unemployed dropped by 11.5 per cent and reached 6,655, despite an increase of one per cent when compared to the previous month.

The number of registered unemployed in Malta totalled 5,980, whereas an additional 675 persons were registered in Gozo.

Over the one year period ending in September, unemployment decreased by 771 and 95 in Malta and Gozo, respectively. This decline was also observed across all age groups.

Moreover, there was a decrease of 634 people registering for work for less than 20 weeks when compared to the previous year. People registering for employment for over one year went up by 82.

While men tended to go for trades and women tended to be oriented towards clerical occupations, both sexes had the same inclination towards service jobs.

In April, the registered unemployment rate stood at five per cent of the labour supply (excluding part-timers).

On a gender basis, the unemployment rate for men stood at 5.8 per cent, while that for women stood at 3.4 per cent.

The unemployment rate of people who have been registering for work for more than 12 months stood at 1.8 per cent. The unemployment rate among older people 45 and over, was 5.2 per cent. The rate in respect of those under 25 stood at 6.2 per cent .