In September, the number of persons registering for work stood at 2,472 decreasing by 22.9 per cent when compared to the corresponding month last year, the NSO said today.

Data provided by Jobsplus for September 2017 indicate a decline of 679 persons registering under

Part I and a decrease of 56 among those registering under Part II of the unemployment register, when compared to September 2016. Registered unemployed males dropped among all age groups, while registered unemployed females have shown an increase among those under age 20.

Registrants for work decreased when compared to September 2016, irrespective of how long they had been registering for work. The only increase was recorded among females registering for over one year. The largest decrease in registrants was among persons who had been registering for less than 21 weeks.

The number of persons with a disability who were registering for work also dropped by 85 when compared to the previous year reaching 290. Men accounted for 76.6 per cent of total registrants with a disability.

The largest share of men and women on the unemployment register sought occupations as clerical support workers with 19.5 per cent and 37.3 per cent respectively.

The registered unemployment rate in March 2017 stood at 1.4 per cent of the labour supply, (excluding part-time employment) and varied from 1.6 per cent among men to 1.0 per cent among women.