In May, the number of persons registering for work stood at 5,333 compared to 7,141 in the corresponding month last year, the NSO said today.

Data provided by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) for May indicate a decrease of 1,857 persons registering under Part I and an increase of 49 among those registering under Part II of the unemployment register, when compared to the corresponding month last year. Decreases in registered unemployment were recorded among all age groups.

When compared to May last year, persons registering for work decreased irrespective of how long they had been registering for work. The largest decrease was recorded among persons who had been registering for employment for over one year. The number of persons with a disability who were registering for work also decreased by 125 to 396.

Males accounted for 80.3 per cent of total registrants with a disability.

The largest share of males on the unemployment register sought occupations as crafts and related trade workers (18.2 per cent), whereas their female counterparts mostly sought occupations as clerical support workers (27.6 per cent).

The registered unemployed rate in December 2014 stood at 3.7 per cent of the labour supply, (excluding part-time employment), and varied from 4.4 per cent among men to 2.4 per cent among women.