The number of people registering for work rose by more than 1,800 from March to April this year. Data by the National Statistics Office shows that registered unemployment reached 3,979 in the April, a sharp increase from 1,748 compared with the same month last year.
The figures represent those registered with the government employment entity Jobsplus under its Part I and Part II schemes. The former includes people who are new to the jobs market, are re-entrants, or have lost their jobs; the latter comprises those who left their jobs, turned down offers or were subject to disciplinary dismissal. Except for 106 people, all those registering for work in April fell under the Part I category.
The highest rate of increase in registered unemployment was observed among the 25-29 age bracket, rising by around 300 people from 179 in March. The 45-and-over age group recorded the lowest rate of month-on-month increase (52%) but, at 1,474 registrations, represent the largest number of jobseekers.
Three in four of those on the register have been looking for work for under 21 weeks, but the majority were added between March and April. This category numbers more than 3,000 people, well above the roughly 700 counted a year ago.
Clerical support workers make up 26 percent of the current job seeking population, the biggest share among registered unemployed, followed by technicians and associate professionals (19.5%) and service and sales workers (15%).
Compared with the previous month, however, the proportion of clerical support workers in registered unemployment decreased by a slight 0.3 percentage points while technicians and associated professionals increased by 4.4 points, translating into 454 new registrations. People registering for work in managerial positions recorded the second-highest rate of increase jumping from 6.3 percent of jobseekers in March to 8.6 percent in April, rising from 138 to 342.
