Unemployment rate marginally down in July

Malta's unemployment rate stood at 3.3 per cent in July, marking a drop of 0.1 percentage points over the previous month.  In the latest update on unemployment, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said that for the month under review, the unemployment rate for males was 3.8 per cent while that for females stood at 2.5 per cent The youth unemployment rate, which looks at the work situation of those aged between 15 and 24 was 10.6 per cent, up slightly by 0.6 percentage points. This was the highest rate since January.  Meanwhile, the rate for those between 25 and 74 years stood at 2.6 per cent, down by 0.1 percentage points.  Last week, the government denied giving out jobs in the public sector to secure votes at the next general election. It was asked to respond to a claim made by the Malta Employers’ Association, which said businesses could already feel the “talent drain” from the private sector as several employees migrate to government jobs ahead of the election. “The truth is that there is no employment drive whatsoever, neither within the public service nor the wider public sector,” a spokesperson for the government said.