Labour force participation rate is highest on record

Minister for Finance Edward Scicluna said in a statement he welcomes the latest Labour Force Survey data, published by the NSO, which shows that during the first quarter of this year, employment grew by a remarkably high rate of 5.7%.

As a result, the employment rate rose to 68.1%. This means that, on average, out of every 100 persons aged between 15 to 64 years, 68 were employed.

According to Eurostat, Malta also recorded the highest employment growth rate year-on-year in the EU.

The record growth in employment continues to reflect the success of the budget measures aimed at creating opportunities and discouraging dependencies by shifting the tax burden away from labour and making work a more attractive option. Measures in this regard included the reduction in income tax, the inwork benefits and the tapering of benefits.

Out of the total employed persons, 86% held a fulltime job while 14% held a part-time job as their primary occupation. The share of persons having part-time as their primary job decreased, fuelled by an increase in females opting for a full-time job.

The participation rate increased from 68.9% to 71.2%, as increases in activity rate were recorded by all three age groups (15 to 24, 25 to 54 and 55 to 64), and by both males and females.

The increase in female activity rate continued to be higher than that of males, thus narrowing the gap in the participation rates between the two. This shows that the budget measures aimed at reducing the labour market entry barriers faced by women, including the provision of free childcare services, the opening of schools earlier, the provision of after-school childcare services, the maternity leave reform and the promotion of flexible working arrangements, are bearing fruit.

Another positive result is that the share of persons obtaining tertiary level education increased by 2.4 percentage points, while the share of persons having lower levels or no education decreased. Similarly, the share of employees having tertiary education increased, while the share of employees having lower levels or no education decreased.

Minister Scicluna stated that: “I am pleased to note that the robust employment growth rates recorded by the Maltese economy are being sustained while the female labour market participation rate and the level of education of the workforce are both improving.”