1. This news release provides data on the number of persons registering for work with Jobsplus.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) publishes another set of statistics regarding unemployment based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) on a quarterly basis. When compiling LFS statistics, the NSO adopts the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition, an internationally agreed definition on unemployment. This definition has also been adopted by Eurostat and is used by all EU Member States. More details regarding the methodology used for the compilation of unemployment statistics from the LFS may be found in quarterly LFS news releases.

Since Jobsplus records and LFS results measure two different facets of unemployment, the resulting figures are not comparable. Users are therefore cautioned that these two sets of statistics should not be used interchangeably.

2. As from the release published on 23 February 2016, annual average results are being worked out using a custom-made application which takes into consideration more data points to work out the mean for the year. This approach may give rise to differences resulting from rounding.

3. In April 2019, the NSO introduced a new set of EU-harmonised indicators on monthly unemployment based on the European Labour Force Survey (EC 577/1998).

4. The monthly unemployment rates from December 2022 do not feature in this release since administrative data on the labour supply from this month onwards are not yet available.

6. Definitions:

• Registered unemployment rate: refers to the number of registered unemployed persons, both under Part I and Part II, as a percentage of the sum of the full-time registered employed and the total registered unemployed.

In computing the registered unemployment rates for the purpose of this release, only the full-time registered employed is taken into consideration. Persons employed on a part-time basis are not taken into account in this computation.

Registered unemployment rates are not comparable with LFS unemployment rates due to different sources of data collection. While LFS rates are based on sample survey estimates, registered unemployment rates are based on Jobsplus data (registered unemployment data and registered full-time employed).

• Long-term registered unemployment rate: refers to those people who have been registering for work for more than twelve months. The long-term unemployment rate is calculated by working out the number of the long-term unemployed under Part I as a percentage of the labour force.

• Part I of the unemployment register: those registering under Part I are either new job seekers who have left school, re-entrants into the labour market or individuals who have been made redundant by their former employers.

• Part II of the unemployment register: those registering under Part II are either workers who have been dismissed from work due to disciplinary actions, left work out of their own free will, refused work or training opportunities or were struck off the register after an inspection by Law Enforcement personnel.

• The Labour Supply/Labour Force: for the purpose of this release, the labour supply is the sum of the registered unemployed and the full-time gainfully occupied population (excluding part-time employment).

7. The data on unemployment levels is final and not normally subject to revision.