Unemployment in Cyprus dropped by 9.7 per cent in July 2015, according to data released on Wednesday by the statistical service. The figure was in line with the median expected in a Wall Street Journal poll of 10 economists and was slightly higher than the 5.8% in the prior quarter.
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The report revealed that the economically active population or working age population, which are persons within ages 15 to 64, increased from 102.8 million in the first quarter to 103.5 million in the second quarter of this year.
The participation rate was 69.3 percent, below forecasts for 69.6 percent and down from the downwardly revised 69.5 percent in Q1 (originally 69.6 percent).
“Even though employment grew over the quarter, population growth was greater, which resulted in a lower overall employment rate for New Zealand”, labour market and household statistics manager Diane Ramsay said in a statement.
So it could take time for the slowing economy, growing about 2.5 per cent a year, would affect demand for workers in the face of a growing workforce during the current migration boom.
Giving a comprehensive analysis of the country’s jobs trends in its Unemployment/ Under Employment Watch, the statistics producing agency stated that within the same period, the total number in full employment, or those that did something for at least 40 hours weekly decreased by 1,317,700 or 2.37 per cent.
Auckland reported the strongest annual employment growth, rising to 791,500 from 761,900 a year earlier, and accounting for about 44 percent of the nation’s expansion. That’s the first time construction hasn’t driven annual jobs growth since December 2013.
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On an annual basis the July figured represented a significant improvement, however, with the number of unemployed people 32,400 lower than in July 2014.
