1.2% employment increase during second quarter

The Labour Force Survey estimates indicate that, during the second quarter, total employment stood at 176,969 accounting for almost half the population aged 15 and over. Unemployed persons stood at 10,924 (3.1 per cent) while inactive persons totalled 167,794 (47.2 per cent).

The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 65.4 per cent. When compared to the previous year, the activity rate among men decreased by 0.3 percentage points while the activity rate among women increased by 1.3 percentage points. The highest activity rate was recorded among persons aged 25-54 (78.8 per cent) (Table 3).

On average, out of every 100 persons aged 15 to 64, 62 were employed. This rate increased by 1.0 percentage point when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2013. The highest employment rate was recorded among persons aged between 25 and 54 and stood at 75.1 per cent.

Employed men were mostly engaged in wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities (31.2 per cent). On the other hand, at 37.6 per cent, employed women were mostly engaged in Public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities.

Self-employed persons accounted for 14.0 per cent of the total employed population. The majority of employed persons worked on a full-time basis and totalled 149,111. An estimated 24,127 (13.6 per cent) had a part-time job as their primary employment. A further 3,731 were working on a full-time with reduced hours basis.

The average annual basic salary of employees for the second quarter of 2014 was estimated at €16,192. This amount refers to the annual basic salary and excludes extra payments such as overtime, bonuses and allowances, as explained in the methodological notes. The highest average annual basic salary for employees was recorded in financial and insurance activities. Average annual salaries varied from €25,974 among managers to €11,732 among elementary staff.