At the end of July 2005, a total of 7,091 unemployed people were registering for work under Part 1 and Part 2 of the unemployment register, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday.

Of these, 5,500 or 77.6 per cent were men and 1,591 or 22.4 per cent were women.

The number of registered unemployed rose by 161 over the preceding month. On an annual basis, there was a fall of 1,040 on the unemployment register.

The number of new registrants under Part 1 of the unemployment register amounted to 404 in July 2005.

The age distribution of the given statistics indicates that, among those registering for work as at the end of July 2005, there were 3,008 people (42.4 per cent) who were under 30 years of age.

The latter who, in the given month, were registering under Part 1 amounted to 39.8 per cent; whereas those on Part 2 amounted to 63.7 per cent within their respective register.

Further analysis of the age variable indicates that in July 2005, there were 1,918 people (1,602 men and 316 women) aged 45 and over registering for work.

In the month under review, there were 2,935 people (1,997 men and 938 women) who have been registering for work for less than 20 weeks. In addition to this, there were 2,726 people (2,381 men and 345 women) who have been registering for work for 53 weeks and over.

Men and women tend to differ in the type of occupation they are seeking while they are unemployed.

The figures for July 2005 indicate that the most common occupations being sought by men are connected to trades and elementary work. Women, on the other hand, tend to looking more for clerical and service work.

Unemployment rates for January 2005

The unemployment rate for January 2005 stood at 5.6 per cent of the labour supply.

The rate for men was 6.3 per cent and that for women was 3.9 per cent.

In January 2005, the long-term unemployment rate stood at 2.1 per cent, whereas the unemployment rate those aged 45 years and over stood at 4.4 per cent during the same month.

The unemployment rate among young people was 8.1 per cent. The rate of unemployment among males under the age of 25 was 9.7 per cent, while that of females was 6 per cent.