The number of persons registering for work during the month of May increased by 2,740 persons when compared to the corresponding month in 2019. When compared to April 2020, unemployment in May increased by 11%.
The number of unemployed persons in May stood at 4,409 compared to 3,979 people one month earlier when unemployment was already on the rise for the previous two months. In actual fact unemployment in April increased by 166% when compared to February 2020 where unemployment stood at 1,659.
466 people and 1,854 people were made redundant in March 2020 and in April 2020 respectively. A further 430 people were made redundant in May 2020 meaning that from the beginning of March a total of 2,750 jobs were lost primarily because of the COVID pandemic.
However, although the total loss of jobs is still on the rise, in May 2020 the rate of change in percentage terms has decreased over the previous month. In March and April 2020, the rate of change of unemployment in percentage terms stood at 28% and 87% respectively. Therefore, the 11% rate of change experienced in May 2020 is the lowest since the pandemic started to have its impact.
Even if these figures do not take into account foreigners who lost their job because of COVID-19 and were or are to be repatriated, government’s efforts to reduce unemployment seem to be having a positive effect. The upcoming months will of course be crucial as the pandemic will hit tourism hard. Therefore, how the labour market will react together with the accompanying unemployment figures over the next two months will be critical.
There of course remains the considerable unknown of how the health situation will evolve over the next few months, especially in view of the opening of our borders.
