UNEMPLOYMENT rates will not radically change in the New Year if development projects are implemented in time, the Labour Minister said yesterday.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency Soteroulla Charalambous said although a “small increase” in unemployment was to be expected due to the global financial crisis, it would in no way resemble the drastic unemployment hikes in other European countries.
“The evidence so far is very, very good and does not favour a drastic change,” she said.
The minister’s comments come in the wake of recent statements made by Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis that the government’s primary goal was to combat the threat of unemployment and that it would step in to do so. The minister also reiterated that the government would not impose more taxes in 2009 and was cautiously optimistic regarding the state of the economy.
Charalambous said Cyprus’ unemployment rate in October was 3.8 per cent and dropped to three per cent in November. These were the same percentages for the corresponding months last year, she said.
The minister said it was still premature to predict how unemployment would fluctuate in the New Year, particularly as unemployment increases during the last few months of every year due to a drop in seasonal jobs brought on by a slowdown in the hotel and tourism industry.
“If projects that have been announced start on time, and that is the big gamble, then we will have no dramatic changes in unemployment,” she said.
Referring to a small increase in unemployment in the construction industry, Charalambous said it was still too early to determine if this was due to the fact that a number of large projects had been completed or if it was a trend that would continue in the coming months.
In the meantime the Labour Ministry was keeping a close watch on reports of ongoing redundancies in the construction sector, she said.
“Around 120 people were made redundant from companies involved in the construction industry and this is due to projects that have been completed,” she said.
In the New Year the National Employment Committee, made up of OEV, KEVE, PEO, SEK and DEOK, would convene to monitor the situation, she said.
Charalambous said she would also invite all relevant ministry departments to a meeting to assess how to remain more informed on the issue.
The ministry would also publish statistical data on a monthly basis by monitoring the labour forces’ daily input and output, she said.
Meanwhile the Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEV) would give the Labour Ministry the results of study it was carrying out among employers regarding their predictions and intentions in terms of hiring and firing personnel.
