Cyprus unemployment drops to 7.3% in February 2023, but 18.6% youth unemployment persists

According to Eurostat, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in Cyprus fell slightly to 7.3% in February 2023, compared to 7.4% in January 2023. However, the rate had increased from 6.1% in February 2022. In the euro area, the unemployment rate remained stable at 6.6% compared to January 2023 and decreased from 6.8% in February 2022. The EU unemployment rate was 6.0% in February 2023, down from 6.1% in January 2023, and 6.2% in February 2022. Eurostat estimates that 13.120 million people in the EU, of whom 11.142 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in February 2023. Compared with January 2023, unemployment decreased by 24 thousand in the EU and by 59 thousand in the euro area. Compared with February 2022, unemployment decreased by 247 thousand in the EU and by 257 thousand in the euro area.

In February 2023, the youth unemployment rate was 14.5% in the EU and 14.4% in the euro area. There were 2.799 million young people under the age of 25 unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.283 million were in the euro area. Compared to January 2023, youth unemployment increased by 22 thousand in the EU and by 2 thousand in the euro area. Compared to February 2022, youth unemployment increased by 173 thousand in the EU and by 125 thousand in the euro area. However, there is no updated data regarding youth unemployment in Cyprus for either January or February 2023, as Cyprus shares this data every quarter. In December 2022, youth unemployment in Cyprus was at 18.6%, which corresponded to about 8 thousand unemployed young people.

In terms of gender, in February 2023, the unemployment rate for women was 6.4% in the EU and 7.0% in the euro area, while the unemployment rate for men was 5.7% in the EU and 6.2% in the euro area. In Cyprus, the unemployment rate among women remained stable at 8.7% compared to the previous month, which was significantly higher than unemployment among men, which also remained stable at 6.1%.

[With information from CNA and Eurostat]