Cyprus is a top EU performer for people with jobs

Cyprus has one of the highest employment rates in the European Union with about 75 per cent of individuals between the ages of 20 and 64 holding down a job, according to the latest Eurostat survey for 2010.

Sweden topped the chart at an employment rate of 78.7 per cent, followed by 76.8 for the Netherlands and 76.1 per cent for Denmark.

Cyprus was not too far behind at 75.4 per cent with Germany and Austria following closely at 74.9 per cent.

Malta fared the worst at 59.9 per cent with Hungary following suit at 60.4 and Italy hovering at third at 61.1.

Relatively more men than women were employed everywhere in the European Union with the exception of Lithuania.

In Cyprus, 82.5 per cent of men were employed in 2010; this fell to 81.3 in the first quarter of the year.

In the first quarter of the year 7.4 per cent of the Cyprus workforce was unemployed, the majority being men.

European citizens in full-time employment worked on average 40.4 hours a week.

Cypriots worked longer than the average, putting in 41.1 hours each week.

The nationals of the three countries faring better in employment also worked fewer hours.

Swedes worked on average 39.9 hours a week, the Danes racked up 37.7 hours and the Dutch 38.9 hours.

The British worked the longest at 42.2 hours a week for a full-time job, at an employment rate of 73.6 per cent.

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.