Unemployment figures in Malta remained stable in August, according to new data issued in Brussels this week, far below the eurozone average.
Malta’s unemployment rate was 6.5 per cent in August, unchanged from July while average unemployment levels in the rest of the eurozone hit the 11.4 percentage mark.
Malta’s jobless rate was slightly higher (0.3 per cent) compared with August 2011.
The average unemployment in the euro area is the highest registered and signifies an increase of 1.2 per cent over the last 12 months.
The worst hit in August were Spain (25.1 per cent) and Greece (24.4) per cent. Italy has an unemployment rate of 10.7 per cent while Cyprus’s unemployment increased by almost four percentage points in just a year, reaching 11.7 per cent.
On the other hand, Austria (4.5 per cent) and Luxembourg (5.2 per cent) registered the lowest rates for the EU in August.
According to Eurostat, there are 25 million unemployed in the EU, a two million rise over the past year.