The reduction of the unemployment rate was mainly on an increase in employment by 13,100 in the second quarter to 379,842 compared to April to June last year which outstripped that of the labour force, Cystat said in a statement on its website on Wednesday. The number of unemployed dropped to 44,965 from 50,339 respectively.

The labour force increased in the second quarter by 7,227 to 424,807, Cystat said.

The unemployment rate among youth was 25.3% in April to June, down from 26.7% a year before, Cystat said. Unemployment among men dropped to 10.1% from 12% and that among women to 11.1% from 12.2%.

The overall employment ratio in the second quarter rose to 54.9% from 53.9% in the respective period of 2016, Cystat said. The employment ratio among was 59.9% while among women it was 50.4%.

Source: Cyprus Mail