Cyprus unemployment rate rises to 6.8 per cent — services sector dominates

Cyprus’ unemployment rate rose to 6.8 per cent during the first quarter of 2023, despite the increase in the number of employed individuals, compared to 6.6 per cent in the same quarter of 2022, according to a report released on Wednesday by the state’s statistical service.

The number of unemployed individuals reached 33,394 (men 6.3 per cent, women 7.3 per cent), compared to 31,305 people in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

According to the report, the long-term unemployment rate decreased to 32.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, down from 34.2 per cent in the same quarter last year.

Moreover, the services sector accounted for the highest employment rate at 80.7 per cent.

Furthermore, based on the results of the Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2023, the labour force amounted to 492,230 individuals or 65.6 per cent of the population (men 70.8 per cent, women 60.8 per cent), compared to 474,631 individuals (64.3 per cent) in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

The number of employed individuals was 458,835, with an employment rate of 61.2 per cent (men 66.4 per cent, women 56.4 per cent), compared to 443,327 individuals (60.1 per cent) in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

According to the Statistical Service, the employment rate for the age group 20-64 was 78.6 per cent. The rate for men was 83.9 per cent, and for women, it was 73.7 per cent. In the corresponding quarter of 2022, the rates were 77.3 per cent (men 83.6 per cent, women 71.3 per cent).

For the age group 55-64, the employment rate was 65.6 per cent, compared to 63.6 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

According to the distribution of employment by sector, the Services sector had the highest percentage of employed individuals at 80.7 per cent, followed by Industry at 16.9 per cent, and Agriculture at 2.4 per cent.

In the first quarter of 2022, the corresponding percentages were Services 80.4 per cent, Industry 17.2 per cent, and Agriculture 2.4 per cent.

According to the Statistical Service, part-time employment in the first quarter of 2023 accounted for 9.9 per cent of total employment, with 45,308 individuals (men 7.4 per cent, women 12.5 per cent). The corresponding rate for the first quarter of 2022 was 10.8 per cent (men 8.7 per cent, women 13.2 per cent).

Out of the total employed individuals, 89.2 per cent or 409,471 individuals were employees, of whom 12.1 per cent (49,358 individuals) had temporary employment. In the corresponding quarter of 2022, employees accounted for 88.9 per cent of total employment, and 11.5 per cent of them had temporary employment.

For the youth aged 15-24, the unemployment rate was 16.0 per cent of the labour force in that age group (men 18.7 per cent, women 13.4 per cent), compared to 17.7 per cent (men 19.3 per cent, women 16.2 per cent) in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Regarding the duration of unemployment, 51.1 per cent of the total unemployed individuals were searching for work for a period of less than 6 months, 16.7 per cent for 6-11 months, while 32.2 per cent were long-term unemployed. The corresponding rates for the first quarter of 2022 were 50.7 per cent, 15.0 per cent, and 34.3 per cent respectively.