In February, the number of persons registering for work with the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) stood at 7,753, compared to 7,279 in the corresponding month last year, the NSO said.

Data provided by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) for February indicate an increase of 537 persons registering under Part 1 and a decline of 63 among those registering under Part 2 of the unemployment register, when compared to the corresponding month last year.

The number of registrants aged 45 and over went up by 6.2 per cent, to 3,186.  Increases were recorded among all age-groups except for persons aged below 20.

When compared to February 2013, an increase of 593 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 98. The number of disabled persons registering for work numbered 535, decreasing by 5.0 per cent over 2013.  Males accounted for 83.6 per cent of the total number of registrants with disabilities.

Registered unemployment rate: October 2013

Excluding part-time employment (refer to methodological notes), the registered unemployment rate during the month under review stood at 4.6 per cent of the labour supply, and varied from 5.4 per cent among men to 3.2 per cent among women.