The number of people living in jobless households last year, as registered in December, increased when compared to the same period the previous years from 44,487 (2003) to 46,243 (2004), figures issued by the National Statistics Office yesterday reveal.

The increase occurred across the board, apart from the 0 – 14 years category which actually fell from 8,219 in 2003 to 7,572 by December last year.

But for the other categories, the picture is different: 15 – 24 years went up marginally, from 3,968 in 2003 to 3,999 last year; 25 – 44 years, also rose slightly, from 7,550 to 7,750; 45 – 64 experienced the second largest rise, from 18,791 in 2003 to 19,641 last year, following the 65+ category, with 7,281 last year from 5,969 in 2003.

The total number of people living in jobless households represents 11.6 per cent of the population. In 2003 it stood at 11.1 per cent.

When taking the 18 – 59 category, figures have actually fallen – from 22,326 in 2003 to 21,585 last year, representing 9.3 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively. The most strongly represented gender is still “female”, both when looking at the general figure and the 18 – 59 category.

When looked at in terms of education, only 9.1 per cent of those having post-secondary education are living in jobless households, with the bulk of the category – 50.8 per cent – not having secondary education. Only 4.7 per cent reported having received no schooling at all.

The highest number of jobless households are found in the Southern Harbour area, which has 28.9 per cent of the total, followed by the Northern Harbour Area with 25.4 per cent, the South East area with 12.7 per cent, West with 11.8 per cent, Gozo with 11.2 per cent and the North with 10 per cent.