Cyprus labour force rises by 5.1% in 2007

Registered unemployed down in Feb

 

The labour force in Cyprus rose by 5.1% in the whole of 2007 to 393,377 people, according to the results of the quarterly Labour Force Survey.

Despite the rapid growth, all of the increase in the labour force was absorbed, as total employment rose by an even higher 5.8% to reach 377,948.

The number of people unemployed fell by 1.6% to 15,428, yielding an unemployment rate of 3.9%, compared with 4.5% in 2006.

In the fourth quarter alone, the labour force rose by 5.5% compared with the same quarter of 2006 to 398,903; employment rose by 6.3% to 384,852 and the number of unemployed fell by 0.4% to 14,051, yielding an unemployment rate of 3.5%.

The unemployment rate for young persons aged 15-24 was 10.2% in the fourth quarter compared with 10.5% in the corresponding quarter of 2006.

Of the total unemployed, 62% had searched for a job for a period of less than 6 months; 16.3% for a period of 6-11 months, while 21.7% had searched for a job for one year and over.

 

Registered unemployed

Meanwhile, the number of registered unemployed, which is smaller than the number of unemployed measured using the labour force survey, reached 13,280 in February 2008 compared with 13,571 persons in January 2008.

The monthly decrease was mainly recorded in the sectors of hotels and restaurants, transport and public administration.

In comparison with February 2007, the number of registered unemployed fell by 1,536.

The annual decrease was mainly observed in the sectors of manufacturing, construction and hotels and restaurants.