The unemployment rate dropped to 6 percent in the third quarter of 2007, 0.5 percent lower than in Q2, with the highest unemployment rate, of 20.7 percent, among young people (aged 15-24), according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

The data also shows that the unemployment rate among people who are not working, who have been looking for a job in the past month and are willing to begin work in the coming two weeks (the BIM unemployment rate) for Q3 2007 was one percent lower year-on-year.

Gender statistics show that the unemployment rate among men, of 6.7 percent, is more than one percentage point higher than the unemployment rate among women (5.1 percent). Furthermore, the unemployment rate in towns and cities, of 7.8 percent, is 3.9 percentage points higher than in rural areas. (NewsIn)