In March, the number of persons registering for work stood at 2,649 compared to 4,033 in the corresponding month last year, the NSO said today.
Data provided by Jobsplus for March indicate a decrease of 1,280 persons registering under Part I and a decrease of 104 among those registering under Part II of the unemployment register, when compared to March 2016. All age groups recorded decreases in levels under Part II of the unemployment register, while the number of registered unemployed aged under 20 under Part I have increased by 27 persons.
When compared to March 2016, registrants for work decreased irrespective of how long they had been registering. The largest decrease was recorded among persons who had been registering for less than 21 weeks. The number of persons with a disability who were registering for work also decreased by 52 to 304. Males accounted for 78.9 per cent of total registrants with a disability.
The largest share of males and females on the unemployment register sought occupations as clerical support workers with 18.5 per cent and 38.9 per cent respectively.
The registered unemployment rate in October 2016 stood at 1.7 per cent of the labour supply, (excluding part-time employment) and varied from 2.0 per cent among men to 1.3 per cent among women.