At 6,590 persons, registered unemployment in August declined by 582 persons when compared to the same month last year, the National Statistics Office said yesterday, basing figures on data provided by the Employment and Training Corporation.

In the 12 months to August, all the age groups showed a decline in the number of registered unemployed with the exception of those aged 45 years and over. Actually, an increase of 105 persons was reported among the registered unemployed aged 45 years and over.

Among men, occupations related to elementary duties, services and trades were the most common, whereas women tended to seek jobs which were clerical or service-oriented.

The unemployment rates for August are not available since the data on the labour supply for this month are not yet available.

Registered unemployment rate: April

In April 2007, the registered unemployment rate stood at 4.6 per cent of the labour supply. On a gender basis, the unemployment rate for men stood at 5.2, while the unemployment rate for women stood at 3.3 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 3.9 per cent while the unemployment rate among young people (under 25 years of age) stood at 6.3 per cent.