Unemployment rate rises to 14.3 per cent in December

The unemployment rate rose for a second consecutive month in December to 14.3 per cent from 14.2 per cent in November and 13.1 compared to December 2015, the European Union’s statistical office said.

The number of unemployed in December rose thus to 62,000 last month from 54,000 in December 2015 and remained unchanged compared to November, Eurostat said in a statement on its website on Tuesday. The youth unemployment rate was last month 32.8 per cent while among men and women it was 14.1 per cent and 14.5 per cent.

The euro area’s unemployment rate fell last month to 9.6 per cent from 9.7 per cent in November and 10.5 per cent in December 2015, Eurostat said. In the EU, the percentage of people out of job remained unchanged at 8.2 per cent in December compared to the month before and fell from 9 per cent a year before.

Greece’s unemployment rate was the highest with 23 per cent followed by Spain’s 18.4 per cent and Cyprus, Eurostat said. The lowest rates last month were in the Czech Republic, Germany and Malta with 3.5 per cent, 3.9 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively.

The unemployment rate rose last month also in Italy and Italy and dropped in 24 member states, with Croatia, Spain and Portugal reporting the largest decreases, Eurostat said.

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.