Unemployment continued to fall in the month of September when compared to the previous month, although it remains significantly higher than the same month in 2019, data released by the National Statistics Office shows.

A total of 3,385 people were registered as unemployed across Malta and Gozo during September – a decrease from the 3,672 registered as unemployed in August.

It is however 1,717 more people registered as unemployed when compared with September 2019.  Just 1,668 people were registered as unemployed in that month, which is obviously prior to when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

The pandemic has affected employment, with over 4,000 people being unemployed at one point this year; however in recent months that number has continued to decrease.

3,175 of the unemployed are based in Malta, while 210 are based in Gozo.  The vast majority of the decrease happened with unemployment in Malta – which went from 3,444 in August to the aforementioned figure.  Unemployment in Gozo meanwhile decrease by 18 people between August and September.

The bulk of those registered as unemployed are over the age of 30.  Indeed, 1,132 of those registered as unemployed fall within the 30 to 45 years of age bracket, and another 1,377 are over 45 years of age.

A total of 249 people on the unemployment register are identified as persons with a disability, with this number having slightly decreased from 261 last August.

The largest share of males and females on the unemployment register sought occupations as clerical support workers, with 20.6% and 35.7% respectively. 

Technicians and associate professionals are the second most in-demand occupations, followed by service and sales work.