Although Malta had one of the highest year-on-year employment growth rates in the European Union as of the end of this year’s second quarter, the country still remained at the bottom of the EU tables in terms of overall employment rates, according to the European Commission’s Labour Market Review for 2007 published yesterday.

Malta’s year-on-year employment growth rate of 3.1 per cent was more than double the EU27 average of 1.5 per cent, and was the EU’s sixth-highest rate after Latvia (4.4 per cent), Luxembourg (four per cent), Cyprus (3.7 per cent), Spain (3.5 per cent) and Ireland (3.3 per cent).

The country’s unemployment rate at the end of September this year stood at 6.3 per cent, well below the EU average of 7.1 per cent, after falling by 0.9 per cent from the end of September 2006.

But despite the improvement, also bearing in mind the layoffs in the textiles industry, Malta remained at the bottom of the EU league in terms of overall employment rates. With an employment rate of 55.7 per cent, Malta still stood far below the EU27 average of 65.3 per cent at the end of this year’s second quarter after having grown by 1.4 per cent since the same point in time last year. At 76 per cent, the Netherlands holds the highest employment rates in the EU.

Malta faces particular difficulties in terms of the employment of females and older persons, where the country is in last place in both categories, and which is having a marked effect on Malta’s overall employment rates.

Malta’s female employment rate as of the end of this year’s second quarter stood at 36.8 per cent, and although there was a 2.2 per cent year-on-year improvement in the area, Malta remains at the bottom of the EU tables and far below the EU27 average of 58.2 per cent. But Malta improved, on a year-on-year basis by 2.2 per cent in the category.

The employment rate for ‘older persons, or those aged between 55 and 64, was also t the EU’s lowest. At 27.6 per cent, the employment rate among the section of society stands well below the 44.8 per cent EU27 average. Matters in the area do not appear to be picking up, with a decline of 2.9 per cent having been registered for the one-year time frame.

But in terms of employment rates for men, Malta’s 74.3 per cent actually stands above the EU27 average of 72.5 per cent, implying that Malta’s troubles with encouraging women and older persons into employment is largely responsible for the country’s poor performance in its overall employment rates.

Malta was also fifth in the EU with respect to the employment rate of youths - persons aged between 15 and 24, which stood at 44.7 per cent and above the EU average of 36.7 per cent. The unemployment rate for youths, meanwhile, stood at 12.3 per cent, a figure which had decreased by 3.6 per cent between the end of the third quarters of 2006 and 2007.

After falling by 0.3 per cent at the end of this year’s second quarter, Malta’s labour cost index had seen a year-on-year increase of 2.6 per cent in its labour cost index.