In May, the number of persons registering for work stood at 3,511 compared to 5,333 in the corresponding month last year, the NSO said.

Data provided by Jobsplus for May indicate a decrease of 1,723 persons registering under Part I and a decrease of 99 among those registering under Part II of the unemployment register, when compared to May 2015. Overall, decreases in registered unemployment were recorded among all age groups.

When compared to May last year, registrants for work decreased irrespective of how long they had been registering. The largest decrease was recorded among persons who had been on the unemployment register for over one year. The number of persons with a disability who were registering for work also decreased by 47 reaching 349. Males accounted for 76.2 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 (17.7 per cent), whereas their female counterparts mostly sought occupations as clerical support workers (30.1 per cent).

The registered unemployment rate in December 2015 stood at 2.5 per cent of the labour supply (excluding part-time employment), and varied from 3.1 per cent among men to 1.6 per cent among women.