There were 6,921 people registering for work in February, 39 less than in the same month last year.

The National Statistics Office said that records provided by the Employment and Training Corporation showed that the number of people registering for employment in Malta and Gozo stood at 6,180 and 741, respectively.

There were 5,435 men and 1,486 women registering for work during the month under review.

Unemployment among men went down by 55, while female unemployment edged up by 16. Unemployment declined almost across all age groups with the exception of those aged 45 and over, where persons registering for work increased by 148 or 5.6 per cent.

When compared to February last year, the number of people registering for more than one year decreased by 103 (4.3 per cent) to 2,269.

The largest share of unemployed men were seeking occupations in services, sales and crafts, whereas women mostly sought clerical jobs.

In October, the registered unemployment rate stood at 4.2 per cent of the labour supply: five per cent for men and 2.7 per cent for women. This rate stood at 4.4 per cent among those aged 45 and over, and 5.2 per cent for those under 25.