2.1% increase in employment rate – Labour Force Survey

Labour Force Survey estimates indicate that, during the third quarter, total employment stood at 184,355 accounting for 51.6 per cent of the population aged 15 and over.

Unemployed persons stood at 11,440 (3.2 per cent) while inactive persons totalled 161,663 (45.2 per cent).

The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 67.5 per cent. When compared to the previous year, the activity rate among men increased by 0.6 percentage points and the activity rate among women increased by 2.9 percentage points. The highest activity rate was recorded among persons aged 25-54 (80.0 per cent).

The Employed Population

On average, out of every 100 persons aged 15 to 64, 64 were employed. This rate increased by 2.1 percentage points when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2013.

The highest employment rate was recorded among persons aged between 25 and 54 and stood at 76.4 per cent.

Employed men were mostly engaged in wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities (30.8 per cent). On the other hand, at 36.4 per cent, employed women were mostly engaged in Public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities.

Self-employed persons accounted for 13.9 per cent of the total employed population. The majority of employed persons worked on a full-time basis and totalled 151,322.

An estimated 26,393 (14.3 per cent) had a part-time job as their primary employment. A further 6,640 were working on full-time with reduced hours basis.