There is no real drop in unemployment
Written statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL Spokesperson
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 6th April 2016, Nicosia
According to the findings of the Survey conducted on the Labour Force by the Statistical Service of Cyprus for the 4th quarter of 2014, the number of employed persons amounted to 368.772 people and the unemployment rate was at 16.0%.
A year later according to the results of the same official survey in Q4 2015, the number of employed persons dropped to 361,448 people, but unemployment stood at 12.8%.
That is to say that at the same time as the Cyprus economy lost several thousand jobs, the paradox is that the unemployment rate is declining. This contradiction in terms is explained by the fact that many of our fellow citizens no longer register as unemployed, while many others are migrating abroad or do not return once they have completed their studies. Unfortunately, official figures show that in practice there is no real drop in unemployment.
We will not tire of repeating that this situation will not change substantially as long as the DISY-Anastasiades government insists dogmatically on austerity, which has not brought growth and new jobs anywhere in the world.
