At the end of June 2005, a total of 6,930 unemployed people were registering for work under Part 1 and Part 2 of the unemployment register, according to figures released by the National Statistics Office.

Of this total, 5,504, or 79.4 per cent, were men and 1,426, or 20.6 per cent, were women. Accordingly, the number of registered unemployed decreased by 315 over the preceding month.

On an annual basis, there were 1,012 fewer people on the unemployment register.

The age distribution of the given statistics indicates that, of those registering for work as at the end of June 2005, 1,886 (27.2 per cent) were 24 years old or under, and 1,943 (28 per cent) were 45 years old or over.

Further analysis of the age variable indicates that nearly one third of all men who were registered unemployed (29.8 per cent) are aged 45 years and over. Unemployed women who are aged 45 years or over account for 21.1 per cent of all registered unemployed women.

In the month under review, 2,709 people (1,941 men and 768 women) have been registering for work for less than 20 weeks.

In addition to this, there were 2,748 people (2,403 men and 345 women) who have been registering for work for longer than 53 weeks.

There tends to be a difference between men and women as far as the type of occupation they are seeking during their spell of unemployment.

Accordingly, the figures for June 2005 indicate that the most common occupations being sought by men are those relating to trades and elementary work. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to be looking for clerical or service work.