In March 2017, registered full-time employment increased by 5.3 per cent while part-time employment as a primary job increased by 4.2 per cent when compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, the NSO said.

Gainfully Occupied Population: February-March 2017

Administrative data provided by Jobsplus show that, over a period of one year, the labour supply (excluding part-timers, see methodological note 5) increased by 4.5 per cent, reaching 189,983. This was mainly attributed to a year on year increase in the full-time gainfully occupied population (9,512) and further complimented by a drop in registered unemployment (1,384).

Registered full-time employment

In March 2017, arts, entertainment and recreation and administrative and support service activities contributed mostly to the increase in employment, compared to March 2016. Registered full-time employment in the private sector went up by 8,576 persons to 142,047. Public sector full-time employment increased by 936 persons to 45,287.

The number of persons registered as full-time self-employed rose by 760 when compared to March

2016, while the number of persons registered as employees increased by 8,752. Full-time employment for males and females went up by 4.2 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively over 2016 levels.

Registered part-time employment

Registered part-time employment in March 2017 went up by 6.4 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 and professional, scientific and technical activities.

The number of part-timers who also held a full-time job amounted to 24,993 up by 9.4 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2016. Employed persons whose part-time job was their primary occupation totalled 34,768, up by 4.2 per cent when compared to 2016.