Unemployment contracted significantly in October, figures issued by the NSO today show.

The number of persons registering for work stood at 2,319 decreasing by 26.8 per cent when compared to the corresponding month last year. This was a decline of 732 persons registering under Part I and a decrease of 115 among those registering under Part II of the unemployment register.

Registered unemployment dropped among all age groups and across all categories. The only increase was recorded among women registering for
over one year.

The most significant drop in registrants was recorded among persons
who had been registering for less than 21 weeks.

The number of persons with a disability who were registering for work also declined by 72.

The largest share of men and women who were on the unemployment register sought occupations as clerical support workers with 19.1 per cent and 36.7 per cent respectively.

The unemployment rate in April 2017 stood at 1.4 per cent of the labour supply, (excluding part-time employment) and varied from 1.6 per cent among men to 1.0 per cent among women.

Meanwhile, EU figures issued today showed Malta having the second lowest unemployment rate. Malta now has a lower unemployment rate than Germany and only the Czech Republic is lower.