Based on the seasonally adjusted data that shows the trend of unemployment, the number of registered jobless in February increased by 684 to 49,408 persons compared to 48,724 in the previous month.
But the total number of registered unemployed at the end of February reached 53,204 persons, official data showed yesterday. On an annual basis there was an increase of 7,095 persons or 15.4% recorded since February 2013.
The biggest jobless increases were mainly observed in the sectors of financial and insurance activities (+1,335 unemployed persons), accommodation and food service activities (+1,204), public administration (+861), manufacturing (+664) and trade (+437).
Among newcomers to the labour market there was a spike of 939 unemployed.
Accommodation, food and service was the sector with the largest number of jobless in February with an average of 9,324 followed by wholesale and retail trade plus car and motorbike repair with 9,229.
Manual labour (11,356) was the biggest occupational category without jobs while second largest was services and sales with 10,354 unemployed. And the age group with the most registered unemployed (12,308) are aged 50-59 followed closely by those in the 30-39 age bracket (12, 086).
Unsurprisingly, Nicosia has the largest out of work population at 16,632, followed by Larnaca-Famagusta district with 16,158. And graduates without a job in February reached 13,812. More worryingly, the length of time people were looking for work increased with those unemployed for over 12 months reaching 9,765.
From the unemployment total, the number of Greek Cypriot jobless is 41,118 and EU nationals account for 9,733. The Finance Ministry predicts that unemployment will reach a record high of 19% this year.