Unemployment in the third quarter of this year reached 8.2% compared to 6.7% in the third quarter of the previous year, data released by the Cyprus Statistical Service (CyStat) show.
“According to the results of the Labour Force Survey, the labour force in the 3rd quarter of 2020 amounted to 452,154 persons or 62.9% of the population (males 70.0%, females 56.4%) in comparison to 447,206 persons (63.0%) in the corresponding quarter of 2019,” a CyStat press release says.
The number of employed persons was 414,920 and the employment rate 57.7% (males 64,5%, females 51,5%) in comparison to 417.118 persons (58,7%) in the corresponding quarter of 2019.
“The number of unemployed persons amounted to 37,234 and the unemployment rate to 8.2% of the labour force (males 7.9%, females 8.6%) in comparison to 30,088 persons (6.7%) in the corresponding quarter of 2019,” the press release reads.
The employment rate of people aged 20-64 was 74.5%. The rate for males was 81.4% and for females 68.0%. In the corresponding quarter of 2019, the rate was 75.7% (males 82.6%, females 69.2%). For the age group 55-64 the employment rate was 61.9% in comparison to 61.7% in the corresponding quarter of 2019.
The press release continues noting that according to the distribution of employment by sector, the biggest percentage of employed persons was in services (77.3%), followed by manufacturing (19.8%) and agriculture (2.9%). For the 3rd quarter of 2019, the corresponding percentages were: services 78.8%, manufacturing 18.9% and agriculture 2.3%.
The share of part-time employment to total employment was 10.2% or 42,481 persons (males 7.9%, females 13.0%). The corresponding rate for the 3rd quarter of 2019 was 10,6% (males 7.8%, females 13.9%).
In addition, 86.1% or 357,298 of the total employed persons were employees, of which 13.1% (46,849 persons) had a temporary job. In the corresponding quarter of 2019 employees accounted for 86.5% of total employment of which 14.2% had a temporary job.
For young persons aged 15-24 years old, the unemployment rate was 20.4% of the labour force of the same age group (males 30.2%, females 10.8%) in comparison to 15.6% (males 18.3%, females 13.3%) in the corresponding quarter of last year.
As far as the duration of unemployment is concerned, 53.3% of the total unemployed persons searched for a job for a period of less than 6 months, 19.6% for a period of 6-11 months, whereas a percentage of 27.1% were long-term unemployed. The corresponding rates for the 3rd quarter of 2019 were 57.8%, 11.3% and 30.9%, CyStat says.
(CNA)
