Ministry denies MLP claim on jobless figures

The Ministry of Social Policy yesterday denied claims by Labour party spokesmen that it had doctored unemployment figures.

Labour deputies Marie Louise Coleiro and Karl Chircop had claimed that Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi had misled parliament about the unemployment rate.

In a statement through the Department of Information, the ministry said that Ms Coleiro and Dr Chircop had alleged that Dr Gonzi had cut back the unemployment figure with the result that it did not tally with that issued by the National Office of Statistics.

The ministry said that in a document laid on the table of the House of Representatives replying to a parliamentary question, a breakdown was given of the unemployment situation.

It appeared that the Labour spokesmen did not look into the details of the two-page document and alleged that there was a discrepancy in the number of unemployed, the ministry said.

"There is no such discrepancy. The total of 6,941 represented unemployed persons in Malta last December while the figure 7,433 was the number of unemployed in Malta and Gozo."