Last February there were only 1,125 people registering for work. This was among the lowest number of people on the unemployment register since it began to be maintained in the 1960s.
Compared to a year ago, there was a decrease of 1,460 persons, meaning that in a year the number of those registering has decreased by almost 60%. The biggest decline was in job seekers over the age of 45, with a reduction of almost 630 people. There was also a sharp decline among 30- to 45-year-olds, with registrants falling by 538. Among those under the age of 30 there was a decrease of 295 persons seeking employment.
It should be noted that before the pandemic started, the lowest number of people registering had been reached in June 2019. That pre-pandemic record had been of 1,616 people registering, or 491 more than the amount registering last February.
The biggest decline was in job seekers over the age of 45, with a reduction of almost 630 people.
Despite the forecasts made when the pandemic broke out that there would be more than 50,000 unemployed people, the most unemployment rose was in May 2020 when the number of people registering had reached 4,409. This in contrast to almost 8,000 who were seeking employment at the height of the economic crisis of 2008.
On average every day from the beginning of June 2020 to the end of last February five people that were on the register found employment. In about fourteen months the number of unemployed people has decreased to what it was before the pandemic started, and thereafter month after month the country has been reaching new historical minimums.
The drop seen since May 2020 is the fastest drop in unemployment in our country’s history. For our country to reverse the rise in unemployment that had occurred after the recession of 2008 it had lasted 72 months, or five times more than the rebound during the pandemic.
In February 2022, despite the economic effects of a pandemic, those registering were seven times less than the amount in March 2013. The facts speak for themselves. The Labour government’s economic management during the pandemic has truly worked wonders.
