Cyprus unemployment rate at 6.8% in 2nd quarter of 2022

The unemployment rate in Cyprus was 6.8% of the labor force in the 2nd quarter of 2022, recording a decrease of 1.6% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2021.

According to the results of the Cyprus Statistical Service’s Labor Force Survey, the labor force in the 2nd quarter of 2022 amounted to 482,385 persons or 65.1% of the population (males 71.2%, females 59.5%) in comparison to 466,525 persons (63.9%) in the corresponding quarter of 2021.

The number of employed persons was 449,482 and the employment rate was 60.6% (males 66.9%, females 54.9%) in comparison to 427,300 persons (58.5%) in the corresponding quarter of 2021.

The number of unemployed persons amounted to 32,903 and the unemployment rate to 6.8% of the labor force (males 6.0%, females 7.8%) in comparison to 39,224 persons (8.4%) in the corresponding quarter of 2021.

Employment

For the age group 20-64, the employment rate was 78%. The rate for males was 84.2% and for females 72.2%. In the corresponding quarter of 2021, the rate was 75.2% (males 81.9%, females 69%). For the age group 55-64 the employment rate was 65.9% in comparison to 62.2% in the corresponding quarter of 2021.

According to the distribution of employment by sector, the biggest percentage of employed persons was in Services (80.7%), followed by Manufacturing (16.8%) and Agriculture (2.5%). For the 2nd quarter of 2021, the corresponding percentages were: Services 78.5%, Manufacturing 18.6% and Agriculture 2.9%.

The share of part-time employment to total employment was 10.9% or 48,858 persons (males 9.0%, females 13.0%). The corresponding rate for the 2nd quarter of 2021 was 11.4% (males 10.1%, females 12.8%).

89.1% or 400,630 of the total employed persons were employees, of which 11.4% (45,679 persons) had a temporary job. In the corresponding quarter of 2021 employees accounted for 88.1% of total employment of which 13.1% had a temporary job.

Unemployment

For young persons aged 15-24 years old, the unemployment rate was 17.6% of the labor force of the same age group (males 16.3%, females 18.9%) in comparison to 17% (males 14.8%, females 19.3%) in the corresponding quarter of last year.

As far as the duration of unemployment is concerned, 49.3% of the total unemployed persons searched for a job for a period of fewer than 6 months, 13.3% for a period of 6-11 months, whereas a percentage of 37.4% were long-term unemployed. The corresponding rates for the 2nd quarter of 2021 were 40.5%, 24.0% and 35.5%.