Cyprus unemployment rises to 5.4% in Q3

The unemployment rate amounted climbed to 5.4% of the labour force in the third quarter of 2009, according to the latest Labour Force Survey, compared with just 3.6% in the same quarter in 2008.
Unemployment among males reached 5.4% in the third quarter of 2009, compared with 3.0% in the same period of 2008, while unemployment among females was 5.5%, compared with 4.2% a year earlier.
The unemployment rate for people aged 15-24 shot up to 15.8% of the labour force of the same age group, compared with 8.4% in the same quarter of 2008.
The total number of unemployed reached 21,956, up from 14,146 in the same period of 2008.
Meanwhile, total employment reached to 382,085 (males 210,843; females 171,241), compared with 381,983 in the same period of 2008.
The employment rate for persons aged 15-64 was 70.0% (males 78.0% and females 62.3%), the same level as in the previous quarter, while it recorded a slight decrease from the corresponding quarter of 2008.