In August 2016, registered full-time employment increased by 4.5 per cent whilst part-time employment as a primary job increased by 5.8 per cent when compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, the National Statistics Office said today.
Gainfully Occupied Population: July-August 2016
Administrative data provided by Jobsplus for August 2016 shows that, over a period of one year, the labour supply (excluding part-timers, see methodological notes) increased by 3.4 per cent, reaching 184,866. This was mainly attributed to an increase in the fulltime gainfully occupied population (7,742) and a drop in registered unemployment (1,653).
Registered full-time employment In August 2016, Arts, entertainment and recreation and Administrative and support service activities contributed mostly to the increase in employment, compared to August 2015.
Registered full-time employment in the private sector went up by 7,648 persons to 137,116. Public sector full-time employment increased by 94 persons to 44,489. The number of persons registered as full-time self-employed rose by 451 when compared to August 2015, while the number of persons registered as employees increased by 7,291.
Full-time employment for males and females went up by 3.3 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively over 2015 levels. Registered part-time employment Registered part-time employment in August 2016 went up by 5.6 per cent when compared to a year earlier.
The sectors that contributed most to the overall increase were Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, Accommodation and food service activities and Transportation and Storage.
The number of part-timers who also held a full-time job amounted to 24,611 up by 5.3 per cent (+1,235 persons) when compared to the corresponding month in 2015.
Employed persons whose part-time job was their primary occupation totalled 37,756 up by 5.8 per cent (+2,057 persons) when compared to 2015.
Minimum wage
In the meantime, figures published by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, show that Malta is among seven member states with minimum wages that are less than half of the median earnings.
“Minimum wages may also be measured in relative terms, i.e. as a proportion of the median gross monthly earnings. In 2014, among Member States concerned and for which data on median earnings are available, minimum wages were above 60% of the median gross monthly earnings in only three Member States: Portugal (64%), France and Slovenia (both 62%).
In contrast, minimum wages were less than half of the median earnings in seven Member States: the Czech Republic (39%), Estonia (40%), Ireland and Spain (both 45%), Slovakia (46%), Malta (48%) and the United Kingdom (49%).”