The Malta Labour Party said yesterday that it was clear that the government had no solution to the problem of structural unemployment.

Opposition MP Karl Chircop said that while the ETC put unemployment in the region of 7,500, the latest Labour Force Survey showed that some 11,700 people were looking for work, an increase of 700 over last year’s figures.

The MLP said that Gozo was also in a bad situation - showing 700 unemployed people, a figure he termed as being very alarming because just a couple of years ago, unemployment in Gozo stood at only 400.

Dr Chircop said that the government was doing nothing in the face of this problem.

He also said that female participation in employment was another problem, with ETC figures showing that female unemployment increased by 200 over last year, despite various initiatives to encourage them to work which were announced in the last budget.

He also pointed out that some 40 per cent of unemployed people were “long-term” unemployed, adding that the government had no concrete policy on the issue. “These people are at even more of a disadvantage because they have been unemployed for longer,” said Dr Chircop.

He also said that despite the very hard work being put in by the ETC, there were still not enough job opportunities for people with disabilities. “The problems with part time employment are also increasing. While the government boasts about the number of part timers, this is not a positive fact at all because there are over 20,000 people whose employment is only on a part-time basis,” said Dr Chircop.

When one weighed up all these facts, he said, one could see what Maltese workers and their families were up against. “It is clear that the government’s employment policy has been a failure. The MLP encourages any initiatives to attract investment to Malta in the hope of improving people’s working conditions,” he concluded.