By Angelos Anastasiou
ALTHOUGH long-term unemployment – those unemployed for six months or longer – fell by 2.2 per cent to just over 20,000 in September, on a further drop of 1.6 per cent the previous month, the upward trend in those without a job for over 12 months persists, according to unreleased data by the government’s Labour Market Observatory.
General unemployment, which includes all registered unemployed regardless of the period of joblessness, fell to pre- March 2013 levels for the first time in May 2014 and observed a two-month spike before following a steadily declining trajectory since July. In September, it stood at 43,017, marking a 5.6 per cent decrease on August figures.
But while general unemployment – which had been on the rise since 2010 – appears to be stabilising, and even decreasing by 2 per cent in seasonally-adjusted figures since December 2013, that has not been the case with long-term unemployment.
Despite the declining trend in joblessness, long-term unemployment has increased by nearly a quarter between August 2013 and 2014, with numbers indicating that the percentage of those unemployed for over a year has increased by over two thirds.
In addition to long-term unemployment, entering the labour force can also prove especially challenging. The statistics show that, at 14 per cent of the entire pool of unemployed, 6,005 youths had been unable to find a job in September.
Most unemployed newcomers – 72 per cent – fell in the 20 to 39 age group, of whom over nine in ten had graduated university.
“Long-term unemployment is not necessarily an indicator of the economy’s performance,” one Labour ministry official said. “Even as general unemployment falls, those remaining without work pass the six-month threshold and drive long-term unemployment figures up.”
And rising long-term unemployment poses serious risks for what is called ‘structural unemployment’ – an unemployable portion of the population with skills not in demand that may need to be retrained before re-entering the jobs market.
Sectors with the most jobs shed in September include retail trade, construction, the services industry, and processing.
Greek Cypriots formed the vast majority of unemployed in September with 82 per cent, followed by EU citizens at 13.5 per cent, 4 per cent were non-EU citizens and less than 0.5 per cent were Turkish Cypriots.
