Jobs agency Adem registered 18,525 people as looking for work at the end of August. This number was down by 6.2% compared to the month before but still 20.5% higher than August 2019. 

Young people have been particularly hard hit by a lack of work in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The number of jobseekers under 30 was up by more than a third year on year, statistics released by the government on Monday showed, the biggest jump for any age group.

At the same time, employers posted fewer jobs, with 6,817 vacancies open at the end of last month, 9% fewer than the same time last year. Around one in five jobs newly posted were for temporary work.

The grand duchy’s unemployment rate peaked in May this year at 7% with more than 20,000 people jobless as large parts of the economy stalled during lockdown, such as construction and hospitality.