COVID19: Cyprus jobless rate rises to 8.9%

Unemployment in Cyprus increased to 8.9% (41,000 people) in April from 7.5% the month before as the economy felt the full effects of COVID-19 lockdown measures.

The jobless rate was 8.5% among men and a higher 9.4% for women.

But the rate of 8.9% is up from 6.7% (30,000) in March when the coronavirus outbreak began and 7.5% (34,000) a year ago.

Youth unemployment was 13.4% in March (latest available data) or 5,000 individuals, down from 16.2% (6,000) in April 2019.

In April, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.3%, up from 7.1% in March.

The EU unemployment rate was 6.6% in April, up from 6.4% in March, according to Eurostat.

An estimated 14.079 million men and women in the EU, of whom 11.919 million in the euro area, were unemployed in April.

Compared with March, the number of unemployed increased by 397,000 in the EU and by 211,000 in the euro area.

Some 2.776 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.239 million were in the euro area.

The youth unemployment rate was 15.4% in the EU and 15.8% in the euro area, up from 14.6% and 15.1% respectively in the previous month. Compared with March 2020, youth unemployment increased by 159 000 in the EU and by 89 000 in the euro area.

In April, the unemployment rate for women was 6.8% in the EU, up from 6.7% in March.

The unemployment rate for men was 6.4% in April, compared with 6.1% in March 2020.

In the euro area, the unemployment rate remained stable for women in April compared with March (at 7.6%) while it increased from 6.8% to 7.0% for men.