60% of the unemployed aren’t registered with the Ministry of Labour

 

In the last quarter, 4,640 persons were added to the list

5 May 2022, “Haravgi” newspaper, by Konstantinos Zachariou

60% of the unemployed are not registered with the Ministry of Labour, either because they are frustrated by the prevailing market conditions and low wages, or because they are not looking for work, or for other reasons.

The above stems from the comparison of the European Statistical Office data for Cyprus and Government Statistical Office’s figures. More specifically, based on the data of the European Agency, the total number of unemployed persons amounts to 28,000 persons. Nevertheless, according to the data of the Statistical Office, which cover the period until the end of April 2022, only 11,664 people have registered at the job centres of the Ministry of Labour. That is to say, approximately 60% of the unemployed are not registered with the Ministry of Labour.

However, the Statistics Office estimates that unemployment is on a downward trend, as after revising the data for seasonal variations, it is estimated that in April the number of registered unemployed persons fell to 12,853 persons, compared to 13,087 in the previous month and 33,376 in April 2021. However, the data show that the decline is almost entirely due to the reactivation of tourism, rather than to improving conditions in the economy.

More specifically, as the analysis of the data shows, 4,640 persons were added to the list of the employment office in the last quarter, of which 775 were added in the last fortnight of April. On the other hand, only 296 unemployed persons found jobs in the last quarter (105 in February, 102 in March and 89 in April). That is, the flow to unemployment and inactivity seems to be much higher than unemployed people finding jobs.

It should be noted that of the 11,664 registered with job centre offices, 476 are up to 24 years old, 1,326 are 25-29 years old, 3,299 are 30-39 years old, 2,478 are 40-49 years old, 2,631 are 50-59 years old, 1,384 are 60-64 years old and 70 are over 65 years old. It is also noted that 3,880 are graduates of higher education, 4,290 of general secondary education level and 993 from technical secondary education. Furthermore, it should be noted that most of the registered unemployed come from the activities of employees and services involved in the restaurant sector (2,135), trade (2,079) and construction (983).

The identity of the unemployed

Of the 11,664 registered unemployed with job centres, 476 are up to 24 years old, 1,326 are 25-29 years old, 3,299 are 30-39 years old, 2,478 are 40-49 years old, 2,631 are 50-59 years old, 1,384 are 60-64 years old and 70 are over 65 years old. It should also be noted that 3,880 are graduates of higher education.