March unemployment at 7.2 per cent

UNEMPLOYMENT in Cyprus in March was 7.2 per cent of the active population, remaining unchanged since February, according to figures released by Eurostat yesterday.

The data indicates that average unemployment in the eurozone in February was 9.9 per cent of the active population, unchanged compared to January, while for the whole of the EU it was 9.5 per cent, also unchanged.

In Cyprus, the number of men unemployed was 7.0 per cent in March, compared to 6.8 per cent in February, while the number of women unemployed was 7.5 per cent, compared to 7.6 per cent in February. Unemployed young people stood at 20.2 per cent.

Eurozone countries with the best performance were The Netherlands with 4.2 per cent and Austria with 4.3 per cent, while the worst were Spain with 20.7 per cent and Ireland with 14.7 per cent.

In March, the EU had a total of 22.828 million unemployed persons, of which 15.596 million in eurozone countries. From March 2010 to March 2011, a total of 260,000 jobs were lost in the eurozone.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.