Real jobs created less than half 20,000 claim – Labour

The Labour Party has attacked claims by the government that some 20,000 jobs were created in the aftermath of the financial crisis between 2008 and 2011.

Labour said official data from the National Statistics Office shows that the creation of jobs, including part-time employment, numbered 9,922.

"Of these, 3,276 were full-time, while 6,646 were part-time jobs. 55% of those who found part-time work depended on this as their main source of income, while the rest were supplementing their full-time employment.

"It is clear that the number of new jobs created for people who were previously unemployed was 6,904, a far cry from the 20,000 job creation claim.

Lawrence Gonzi has insisted that his priority in the last four-years and a half has been the creation of jobs, even while handling internal political problems: the prime minister has said that government's efforts were crucial to safeguard 5,000 jobs during the 2008 crisis.

In several replies to parliamentary questions, the prime minister - who puts much store in the boast of having created 23,939 jobs amid trying economic conditions - revealed that 8,775 (36.6%) were part-time jobs: 5,202 providing the sole source of income, while 3,573 are secondary jobs.

According to the EU's statistical agency Eurostat, the number of persons employed in Malta for more than one hour per week, has increased from 160,600 at the end of 2007 to 170,300 in 2011, an increase of 9,700 persons.