Only 12 persons under 30 looking for work in Gozo

In a clear example of the success of Maltese authorities’ efforts to achieve near-full employment, the number persons under 30 registering for work in Gozo has dropped to just 12, with just one of these, a male, being under 20. Another seven are between the ages of 20 and 24, and while just four are aged between 25 and 29.

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO), total unemployment on Malta’s sister island in July stood at just 58, down from 77 the previous month, and 127 in July of last year, marking a 50 per cent decrease over the period.

In Malta as a whole, the number of registered unemployed decreased further to 925 (June 2022: 954 ; July 2021: 1,542), maintaining the lowest rate of unemployment on record.

Registered unemployment levels decreased across all age groups for both males and females. Males accounted for 71.8 per cent of total registrants while females accounted for the remaining 28.2 per cent.

Persons who had been registering for work for less than 21 weeks and those who had been registering between 21 and 52 weeks decreased when compared to the same month in 2021, although a higher drop was recorded amongst those persons who were registering for work for more than one year.

In July 2022, the number of persons with a disability who were registering for work decreased by 33 when compared to the previous year, reaching 225 persons. Males accounted for 77.3 per cent of total registrants with a disability.

The largest share of males and females on the unemployment register sought occupations as clerical support workers, with 20.6 per cent and 42.1 per cent respectively.

Business leaders have long argued that the historical low unemployment is driven by increased public sector employment, or employment with third parties financed by the Government, like the Community Work Scheme.

The Malta Chamber president Marisa Xuereb has described the unemployment as “below the natural rate”, arguing that “this tends to put artificial upward pressure on wages, which in an inflationary environment, renders us even more uncompetitive.”