The number of people registering for work last month stood at 7,291, compared to 7,176 in the corresponding month last year, the National Statistics Office said.

The NSO said that Employment and Training Corporation data indicated that, compared to the same month last year, there was an increase of 184 persons registering under the Part 1 of the register (new job seekers, re-entrants into the labour market, or job losers who have been made redundant by their former employers) and a decline of 69 among those registering under Part 2 (workers who have been dismissed from work due to disciplinary action, left work of their own free will, refused work or training opportunities or were struck off the register after an inspection by the Law Enforcement personnel. of the unemployment register.

The number of registrants aged 45 and over went up by three per cent, to 3,061. Decreases were recorded among persons aged under 25.

When compared to April last year, an increase of 488 persons was recorded among those who had been registering for more than one year.

On the other hand, the number of persons who had been registering for less than 21 weeks declined by 256.

The number of disabled persons registering for work numbered 536, at par with last year.

Males accounted for 83.2 per cent of the total number of registrants with disability.

During the month under review, the largest share of men on the unemployment register sought occupations classified as crafts and related trade workers, whereas women mostly sought occupations classified as technicians and associate professionals.

The registered unemployment rate in December stood at 4.5 per cent of the labour supply (excluding part-time employment), and varied from 5.3 per cent among men to three per cent among women.