Total unemployment dropped 62,139 from 69,461 in the same period of the previous year, pushing the unemployment rate down to 14.8% from 16% in the same period.

However, the numbers of people with jobs also slid in the third quarter by 1.6% to 358,178, from 364,092 in the same period of 2014.

Both the population and labour force have been shrinking, presumably owing to emigration of Cypriots or non-Cypriots leaving to find jobs elsewhere.

The population in households dropped by 7,784 people to 808,841 in July-September 2015, while the labour force (economically active people and those available for work) fell by 13,236 420,317 in the same period.

However, the labour force also shrank a little because of people becoming inactive and therefore no longer being counted as part of the active labour force.

Inactives increased by 6,835 or 2.8% year on year to 249,745 in the third quarter.

The quarterly Labour Force Survey LFS covers a sample of 3,600 households in all districts of Cyprus, which are allocated according to the number of households that reside in urban and rural areas.

Unemployment is still afflicting the young. The unemployment rate of 15 to 24 year-olds was 32.3% – much higher than the 14.8% average.

Of the total unemployed, 17% are seeking their first job.

Long-term unemployment is improving slightly. According to the survey 44.6% have been jobless for more than a year, down from 48.5% in the third quarter of 2014.

Source: InCyprus