Cyprus unemployment falls to 6.6%

Those out of work reached 31,355 in Q3, 2021, with Cyprus’ unemployment rate dropping to 6.6% of the labour force (males 6.1%, females 7.2%), down from 37,234 (8.2%) in the same quarter last year.

According to the latest official data, the labour force in Q3 2021 was 472,314 or 64.6% of the population (males 70.6%, females 59%), up from 452,154 (62.9%) in Q3 2020.

The number of employed was 440,959 and the employment rate 60.3% (males 66.3%, females 54.8%) increasing from 414,920 (57.7%) last year.

Employment

For the age group 20-64, the employment rate was 77.2%. The rate for men was 83.2% and for women 71.5%.

In Q3 2020 the rate was 74.5% (males 81.4%, females 68%).

For the age group 55-64, the employment rate was 65.5% rising from 61.9% a year ago.

According to the distribution of employment by sector, the biggest percentage of employed was in Services (79.9%), followed by Manufacturing (17.3%) and Agriculture (2.8%).

In Q3 2020, the percentages were: Services 77.3%, Manufacturing 19.8%, and Agriculture 2.9%.

The share of part-time employment to total employment was 11% or 48,482 (males 9.4%, females 12.7%).

The corresponding rate for Q3 2020 was 10.2% (males 7.9%, females 13%).

Unemployment

For young persons aged 15-24, the unemployment rate was 14.5% (males 14.1%, females 14.9%) from 20.4% (males 30.2%, females 10.8%) last year.

Some 42.8% of the unemployed searched for a job for less than six months, 24.3% for 6-11 months, whereas 32.9% were long-term unemployed.

The corresponding rates for Q3 2020 were 53.3%, 19.6% and 27.1%.