Gainfully occupied persons up 5.8% in January

In January 2017, registered fulltime employment increased by 5.8 per cent while part-time employment as a primary job increased by 5.7 per cent when compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Administrative data provided by Jobsplus show that, over a period of one year, the labour supply increased by 4.6 per cent, reaching 188,452. This was mainly attributed to a year on year increase in the full-time gainfully occupied population (10,133) and further complimented by a drop in registered unemployment (1,821).

Registered full-time employment

In January 2017, administrative and support service activities and arts, entertainment and recreation contributed mostly to the increase in employment, compared to January 2016. Registered full-time employment in the private sector went up by 9,275 persons to 140,370. Public sector full-time employment increased by 858 persons to 45,193.

The number of persons registered as full-time self-employed rose by 713 when compared to January 2016, while the number of persons registered as employees increased by 9,420. Full-time employment for males and females went up by 4.7 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively over 2016 levels.

Registered part-time employment

Registered part-time employment in January 2017 went up by 6.7 per cent when compared to a year earlier. The sectors that contributed most to the overall increase were wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, professional, scientific and technical activities and accommodation and food service activities.

The number of part-timers who also held a full-time job amounted to 24,460 up by 8.2 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2016. Employed persons whose parttime job was their primary occupation totalled 34,676, up by 5.7 per cent or 1,857 persons when compared to 2016.