CYPRUS: Unemployment rises to 16% in Q3, youth jobless at 33%

The unemployment rate rose to 16% of the labour force in the third quarter of 2014, from 15.4% in the previous quarter, according to the Cyprus statistical office Cystat.

The unemployment was higher for men 16.8% compared to the 15.2% for women.
According to the Labour Force Survey for the third quarter, the number of employed persons was 366,307 (males 187,314 and females 178,993) and the number of unemployed persons to 69,895 (males 37,906 and females 31,989). Unemployment recorded a slight decrease from the corresponding quarter of 2013 (16.2%).
The employment rate for persons aged 20-64 was 67.9% (males 72.1% and females 64%), at the same level as the previous quarter (67.8%) and up from the corresponding quarter of 2013 (67%).
Also the unemployment rate for young persons aged 15-24 reached 33.4% of the labour force of the same age group, a decrease compared with the previous quarter of 2014 (37.2%) and the corresponding quarter of 2013 (38.5%).
Meanwhile, the Council of Ministers has approved the national action plan for youth employment with an overall budget of 47.23 mln euros.
The action plan has seven priorities, which include the implementation of the EU Youth Guarantee, monitoring and assessment of the policies on employment market, enforcement of the effectiveness of the employment services, promotion of the small and medium sized enterprises, prevention measures against dropping out of school and policies to increase youth inclusion in the job market.
The financing comes from national funds (1.1 mln euros), the European Social Fund (31.98 mln), the European Fund for Rural Development (3.15 mln) and the EU Youth Employment Initiative (11.6 mln).
In September, youth unemployment had reached 34.8%. In May, the lowest rate in the EU was in Germany 8% and the highest was in Greece 58%, while the EU average was 22.2% and the Eurozone average was 23.3%).