Labour status

During January to March of 2005, the number of persons over 15 years was estimated to be 322,273. Of these 149,736 were employed, 10,838 were unemployed and 161,699 were inactive, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday.

In the period January to March 2005, the activity rate which is defined as the number of persons in the labour force (aged between 15 and 64 years) as a percentage of the working population in the same age bracket stood at 58.6 per cent. The activity rate for men was 79.5 per cent whereas that of women was 37.5 per cent.

With regard to employment, out of every 100 persons between the age of 15 and 64, 55 were working. Of these, the employment rate for men was 74.5 per cent and that of women stood at 34.5 per cent.

The employed population

For the first quarter of 2005, the total number of employed persons was estimated at 149,736 persons, with the majority or 26.0 per cent aged between 25 to 34 years. The mean age of employed females was 34 years, while that for males worked out at 39 years.

Between January and March 2005, the majority or 19.3 per cent worked in the manufacturing sector, while a further 14.5 per cent worked in the wholesale and retail trade. In relation to the above, the most common category of occupations was service workers, shop and sales workers which amounted to 22,490 persons or 15.0 per cent.

During the first quarter 2005, the average gross annual salary of employees was estimated at Lm5,174 per annum. The average gross annual salary for full-time employees was estimated to be Lm5,443 whereas that of part-time and full-time with reduced employees was Lm2,943

Self-employed persons made up 14.5 per cent of the total number of employed persons, which includes both own-account workers and self- employed with employees.

The unemployed population

For the first three months of 2005, the total number of unemployed persons was estimated to be 10,838. The unemployment rate which is defined as the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labour force stood at 6.7 per cent. The majority or 48.1 per cent of the total unemployed persons were between 15 and 24 years. Among the total number of unemployed, 49.1 per cent had been looking for a job for over a year, while a further 36.9 per cent had been looking for a job for less than five months.