Malta: Joblessness slows down in August

Registered unemployment fell by 309 people from July to August but it more than doubled from August last year. Data by the National Statistics Office shows that the total number of jobless stood at 3.672 in August, up from 1,645 in the same month 2019.

The figure, however, represents a 13 percent decrease from the previous month. In July 2020, registered unemployment stood at 3,981, a sharp rise from 1,654 in the same month last year. Both July and August 2019 reached lower joblessness levels than the annual average.

The year-on-year increase recorded in August 2020 remains smaller than that registered in July 2020.

Unemployment decreased across all age groups from July to August, but the biggest fall was observed in the under-20 age bracket (-12.9%) followed by the 25-29 age group (-11.6). The narrowest decrease was seen among people over 65 years (-5.6%). This age group had the highest number of jobless, at 1,444. At the other end, there were 197 people under 20 years in registered unemployment.

Joblessness decreased among both women and men month-on-month, falling from 1,432 to 1,315 among the former and from 2,295 to 2,129 among the latter.