During the last quarter of 2019, the unemployment rate hit 19%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points, compared to the fourth quarter of 2018.

According to a report issued by the Department of Statistics (DoS) on Sunday, March 8, the unemployment for males hit 17.7%, against 24.1% for females.

The report also showed a high unemployment rate among university degree holders that reached 22.4%, compared to other educational levels.

The results showed that 50.7% of the total unemployed are holders of secondary school certificate or higher and that 49.3% of the overall jobless had educational qualifications less than the secondary school education.

On the workforce distribution, the report showed a difference according to the educational level and gender, as 59.1% of the total male workforce was below secondary school education, compared to 13.0% for females, and 68.4% of the total female workforce were bachelor's holders or higher, compared to 24.4% percent among males.