Cyprus unemployment drops in Q2

The number of unemployed fell in the second quarter of 2008 compared with the same period of 2007 despite an increase in the labour force.
According to the results of the quarterly Labour Force Survey, which is in accordance with EU norms, the number of unemployed people amounted to 12,448 in the second quarter of 2008, down from 13,223 in the second quarter of 2007.
During the same period, the labour force rose by 5,387 to 396,476 in the second quarter of 2008, from 391,089 in the same quarter of 2007.
The unemployment rate therefore dropped to 3.1% of the labour force, from 3.4% in the same quarter of 2007. The male unemployment rate was 2.6% and the female unemployment rate was 3.9%.
Such a low unemployment rate prompted the Minister of Finance, Charilaos Stavrakis, to say during an address at the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) last week that Cyprus enjoyed full employment.
Unemployment among the young was higher, however. The rate for young persons aged 15-24 was 7.1% compared with 9.1% in the corresponding quarter of 2007.
The figures show that 15.6% of all the unemployed are seeking their first job, which implies that some people over 24 are looking for a job for the first time.
Almost two-thirds (64%) of the unemployed have been so for less than 6 moths, while 11.8% have been so for more than one year.
Permanent contracts accounted for 85.7% of all employment. The service sector employed 73.2% of all employed, followed by industry, which employed 22.6% and agriculture, which employed 4.2%.