Registered unemployment in December decreased by 218 people when compared to the same month last year, dropping to 7,161. The unemployment rate in August 2006 was unchanged at 4.9 per cent, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday, basing its report on figures provided by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC).

The categories of men in the 30-44 and the 45+ age brackets accounted for nearly two-thirds of the registered unemployed.

In the case of women, who accounted for 22.6 per cent of registrants, the majority of unemployed were between 30-44 years of age.

From a regional perspective, the number of registered unemployed in Gozo rose by 10 persons compared to December 2005, while its counterpart in Malta decreased by 228 persons.

Compared to last year, there has been an increase in the unemployed registering for 21 to 52 weeks, offset by a drop in the long-term unemployed. This release also provides information on the occupations being sought by the unemployed. Among men, occupations related to trades and services and elementary duties were the most common, whereas women tended to seek jobs which were clerical or service-oriented (see Table 10).

In August 2006, the registered unemployment rate stood at 4.9 per cent of the labour supply implying no change from the same month of 2005. On a gender basis, the unemployment rate for men stood at 5.3, while the unemployment rate for women stood at 3.9 per cent.

The long-term unemployment rate, referring to people who have been registering for work for more than 12 months, stood at 1.8 per cent. The unemployment rate among older workers (45 years of age and over) was 3.8 per cent while the unemployment rate among young people (under 25 years of age) stood at 7.9 per cent.