Cyprus registered unemployment climbs at a slower pace

Registered unemployment climbed at a slower pace in June according to the latest figures from the Statistical Service.
The number of unemployed registered at the District Labour Offices on the last day of June 2010 was 22,460, a rise of 34.2% compared with June 2009.
Although this was a steep increase, it was lower than the 35.8% increase in May and much lower than the peak increase of 73% recorded in November 2009.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the trend is still upwards, however, rising by 1.7% over the previous month in June.
Compared with June 2009 the increases were broadbased.
There was a rise in unemplomyent in construction (an increase of 970, public administration (944), wholesale and retail trade (871), hotels and restaurants (567), manufacturing (538), education (295), and real estate and business activities (262).
There was an increase of 667 in the new unemployed entrants to the labour market.

LFS unemployment rate climbs to 7.2%

Meanwhile, according to the results of the Labour Force Survey, which captures a broader range of unemployed, unemployment reached 29,618 in the first quarter of 2010, compared with 23,997 registered unemployed in the same period.
The unemployment rate according to the labour force definition was 7.2%, with male unemployment at 7.2% and females at 7.3%.
This was both higher than the previous quarter (6.0%) and the first quarter of 2009 (4.6%).
The youth unemployment rate for those aged 15-24 was much higher, at 20.4%, compared with 16.5% in the previous quarter an 10.0% in the same quarter of 2009.
Total employment in the first quarter reached 379,881 (males 206,779 and females 173,102).
The employment rate for persons aged 20-64 was 74.6% (males 81.2% and females 68.0%) recording a small decrease both from the previous quarter and the corresponding quarter of 2009.
Fiona Mullen, Sapienta Economics