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[Svetlana]

More and more empty shops in Pafos locality and some tavernas will be going the same way, sadly.

Unemployment shows sharp increase
By Daniel Thomas

The number of people jobless in June up 60 per cent from last year

THE NUMBER of unemployed has jumped by 60 per cent monthly comparisons with last year show.

According to the Statistical Services there were 59 per cent more people out of work in June than in the same month last year. One June 30, 2008 the unemployment figure stood at 10,509, while on the corresponding day this year it had jumped to 16,740. In May the figure was 15,158, while the previous year it had been 9,253. Government figures show the unemployment level now stands at four per cent.

The sectors that received the biggest blows since June 2008 were construction at 1,806 and trade-related services at 1,119. However, while the rate of increase is still positive, it is no way near the huge spikes recorded in the final months of last year.

However, Minister of Labour Sotiroulla Charalambous said the situation in Cyprus was under control. “Analyses of unemployment must be complete, comparing 2008, 2009 and further back if necessary, while also comparing specific months and figures from the rest of Europe”. If this was achieved with “objective reasoning”, she said, it could be deduced that Cyprus’ situation is under control and can be kept in control with the right precautions.

The government’s figure of four per cent unemployed is rather lower than the 5.3 per cent given by a Eurostat report. Charalambous said the government figure “represents the actual number of people who are registered as unemployed at the end of June” whereas the Eurostat figure “is the result of a running survey reached through a different methodology.”

Trade unions were united in their resolve that the most effective way of dealing with escalating unemployment was through tougher measures against illegal employment. General Secretary of trade union SEK, Nicos Moiseos said recent figures “were worrying and their pace increasing”. He also emphasised that there was “an uphill road to tackling illegal employment”, and that there haven’t been enough measures introduced “to open up jobs for Cypriots.”

Deputy General Secretary of union PEO, Sotiris Velas echoed these views, saying that there “was no doubt of the increase [of unemployment], it must worry us all… The most effective counter to the increase is to introduce measures that encourage employment, and, of course, measures that attempt to limit illegal work.”

DISY MP Maria Kyriakou lambasted the government’s handling of the situation, paying particular attention to the intricacies and apparent contradictions of the statistical reports. The apparent mismatch between the official figures of the government and ‘Eurostat’ reports on both unemployment and economic growth forecasts was “misleading citizens”, she said, adding that the situation cannot be allowed “to reach the average EU figure of nine per cent unemployment in order to start worrying.”

In response to the accusations of distorting figures and inaction in the face of impending economic turmoil, AKEL spokesman Stavros Evagorou defended the government’s approach, saying “these are games that DISY is trying to play with daily statistics. We are not going to reduce our politics to the level of statistical offices.”

The government figure of 4.0 per cent or 16,740 people, is actually the unadjusted figure, which does not take into account seasonal fluctuations, which when factored in reach a figure of 17,903.

In comparison with the rest of the EU, Cyprus was fairing the economic crisis and unemployment surge better than others, with the figure of 5.3 per cent unemployment standing at third best in Europe after Holland and Austria. In comparison, at the bleaker end of the table was Estonia with 15.6 per cent, Lithuania at 16.3 per cent, and Spain at a record 18.7 per cent.



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