Cyprus jobless EU’s biggest increase

By Stefanos Evripidou

UNEMPLOYMENT in Cyprus recorded the highest annual increase among EU member states last month, rising 5.6 per cent year-on-year to take the number of jobless to 78,000.

Figures released on Wednesday by Eurostat showed that, compared with last year’s figures, the unemployment rate increased in 17 member states and dropped in ten.

The highest increases were registered in Cyprus (11.7 per cent to 17.3 per cent), Greece (23.1 per cent to 26.9 per cent between April 2012 and April 2013) and Slovenia (8.8 per cent to 11.2 per cent), while the largest decreases were observed in Latvia (15.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent between the first quarters of 2012 and 2013) and Estonia (10.1 per cent to 8.0 per cent between May 2012 and May 2013).

The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.1 per cent in June 2013, stable compared with May.

The EU27 unemployment rate was 10.9 per cent, down from 11.0 per cent in May.

In both zones, rates have risen compared with June 2012, when they were 11.4 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively.

Eurostat estimates that 26.5 million men and women in the EU27 were unemployed in June 2013, the majority in the euro area (19.3 million).

Among the member states, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.6 per cent), Germany (5.4 per cent) and Luxembourg (5.7 per cent), and the highest in Greece (26.9 per cent in April 2013) and Spain (26.3 per cent).

In June 2013, 5.5 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU27, marking a youth unemployment rate of 23.2 per cent. From the euro area, 3.5 million youth were unemployed, marking a rate of 23.9 per cent.

The lowest rates of youth unemployment in June 2013, were observed in Germany (7.5 per cent), Austria (9.3 per cent), the Netherlands (11.0 per cent) and Malta (11.2 per cent), and the highest in Greece (58.7 per cent  in April 2013) and Spain (56.1 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.