Mauritius' unemployment rate falls to 7.5 pct in Q4

Reuters
Textiles worker Rivo Rakotoarisoa from Madagascar works at a factory belonging to Ciel Textile in Mauritius. REUTERS/Ed Harris

PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - The unemployment rate in Mauritius fell to 7.5 percent during the fourth quarter of 2014, down from 7.6 percent in the previous quarter, but was unchanged compared to a year earlier, Statistics Mauritius said on Friday. The Indian Ocean island nation's annual gross domestic product stands at $11 billion, and it has been trying to diversify an economy traditionally focused on sugar, textiles and tourism towards luxury real estate, offshore banking and medical tourism. The island's workforce was estimated at 538,900, out of a population of 1.3 million, in the fourth quarter compared with 529,700 in the preceding quarter.