Minister for Finance Prof. Edward Scicluna explains that despite how those critical of Government are selectively quoting certain statistics in order to suggest that the new Government is not performing, official figures prove otherwise.

He explains that the most oft-quoted figure, that of registered unemployed does not indicate strictly individuals who are long-term unemployed, but can also include school and university graduates who have just joined the workforce.

Prof. Scicluna notes furthermore that the true unemployment rate is measured as a percentage of unemployed individuals out of the entire labour force population, and not simply by measuring how many people are registered as unemployed.

In this regard, the Minister points out that Malta’s unemployment remains stable at 6.5%, as noted by the European Commission, which is also forecasting it to remain stable for the coming two years.

Prof. Scicluna also notes that if the opposition’s claims regarding alleged drops in exports were true, employment in the manufacturing sector would have declined last year. Instead throughout 2013, employment in manufacturing increased.

Similarly, Prof. Scicluna explains that statistics which suggest that consumption is decline do not take into account online internet trade and retail, which is a locally-growing trend. He notes that given the absence of such data, consumption statistics do not reflect the actual picture of consumption in Malta.

 
– Saturday, 24 May, 2014