Increase in employment during January and February

Full-time employment during the first two months of 2013 increased by 2.2 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

Employment increased in both private sector as well as the public sector. During January and February, employment increased by 2.4% in the private sector and by 1.4% in the public sector.

The Education sector had the highest increase when compared to the corresponding months in 2012. This was followed by administrative and support service activities, with increases of 845 in January and 875 in February. On the other hand, employment in construction dropped by 361 in January and 369 in February.

Statistics provided by the Employment and Training Corporation show that over a one-year period, full-time jobs in the first two months of the year amounted to 153,988 and 154,269 respectively.

The number of females in full-time employment rose by more than 5% when compared to the corresponding month in 2012. During the same period, the number of jobs held by the self-employed increased by 1% when compared to February 2012.

Even part-time employment increased during the first two months, with a 6% rise.

The number of part-time jobs held by persons who also had a full-time job went up by 4.3%, with the highest increase recorded among females (increase of almost 9.5%) when compared to the first two months of 2012. During the same period, an increase of 7.2 per cent was recorded in jobs where part-time was the primary occupation.