CYPRUS: Q3 unemployment at 13%, says Cystat

The employment rate increased slightly in the third quarter of the year, while unemployment stood at 13%, recording an increase compared to the second quarter of the year and an increase compared to the third quarter of 2015.

 
According to the results of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) of the statistical service Cystat, the labour force in the third quarter of 2016 totalled 427,489 persons or 62.7% of the population (males 68.3%, females 57.6%) in comparison to 421,813 persons (61.9%) and 420,317 persons (62.7%) in the second quarter of 2016 and the third quarters of 2015, respectively.
The number of employed persons was 371,916 and the employment rate 54.5% (males 59.8%, females 49.8%) compared to 370,743 persons (54.4%) and 358,178 persons (53.5%) in the second quarter of 2016 and in the third quarter of 2015, respectively.
The number of unemployed persons amounted to 55,573 and the unemployment rate to 13.0% of the labour force. In the second quarter of 2016 the rate was 12.1% or 51,070 persons and in the third quarter of 2015, 14.8% or 62,139 persons.
For the 20-64 age group, the employment rate was 69.2%. In the corresponding quarter of 2015 the rate was 67.6%. For the 55-64 age group the employment rate was 52.6% in comparison to 48.6% in the corresponding quarter of 2015.
The biggest percentage of employed persons was in services (79.1%), followed by manufacturing (17.1%) and agriculture (3.8%). For the third quarter of 2015, the corresponding percentages were: services 80.1%, manufacturing 16.3% and agriculture 3.6%. The share of part-time employment to total employment was 13.9% or 51,779 persons. The corresponding rate for the third quarter of 2015 was 12.5%.
For young persons aged 15-24, the unemployment rate was 30.1% of the labour force compared to 32.3% in the corresponding quarter of last year.
As far as the duration of unemployment, 40.9% of the total unemployed searched for a job for a period of less than six months, 14.4% for a period of 6-11 months and 44.7% were long-term unemployed.