Cyprus public sector ‘unemployment’ doubles

The number of registered unemployed rose by 1,304 in August compared with the same month of 2004, leading to an unemployment rate of 3.6%, compared with 3.3% in August 2004.

On a year-to-date basis, the numbers of unemployed rose by 1,092 to average 13,548 in January-August.

Public sector workers continue to be the hardest hit, even though redundancy in the broad public sector is unheard of.

The numbers of unemployed in this category rose by 2,453 to 4,095.

In August 2005, the number of unemployed people who previously worked in the public sector more than doubled to 4,085, compared with 1,632 in the same month of 2004.

Early retirement the probable reason

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the real reason for a rise in this category is not massive secret lay-offs by the government and semi-government organisations, but a rush by civil servants and public-sector employees to take early retirement before the higher retirement age kicks in.

The retirement age started to rise gradually to 63 from July.

Public sector workers who take early retirement are allowed to claim unemployment benefits for six months.

Another possible reason is that the public sector is under pressure not to convert temporary contracts into new ones, as has been the practice in the past.

Fiona Mullen