Most of the job losses recorded in the first quarter of 2006 were in the Hotels and Restaurants sector, with the fall in the employment index registered at 4.2 per cent, according to statistics released by the National Statistics Office.
The Retail Trade sector registered a fall in its Turnover Index of 29.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2006, from 106.4 per cent to 75.4 per cent.
The Air Transport and the Other Business Activities also recorded a fall in their Turnover Index of 6.1 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively, compared to the same period in 2005.
In the course of the first quarter this year, the Turnover Index of the Water Transport increased by 52.6 per cent. The Supporting and Auxiliary Transport index increased by 20.1 per cent from 44.2 per cent in 2005 to 53.1 per cent in 2006.
The Hotels and Restaurants sector registered an increase of 16.2 per cent in its turnover index.
The Air Transport Employment Index was down by 2.3 per cent, from 92.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2005 to 90.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2006. The Computer and related activities Index registered a fall of 0.9 per cent for the same period.
An increase of 21 per cent in the Employment Index was registered in the Motor Trade sector, from 74.8 per cent in 2005 to 90.5 per cent in 2006.
Increases were also registered in the Other Business Activities and in the Supporting and Auxiliary Transport sector, where the Employment Index increased by 16.4 per cent and 10.6 per cent respectively.
The only sector that registered a fall in the Gross Wages and Salaries Index was the Retail Trade sector, which was down 9.6 per cent, from 125.9 per cent in 2005 to 113.8 per cent in 2006.
In the first quarter of 2006, increases in the Gross Wages and Salaries Index were recorded in the Land Transport sector (14.6 per cent), the Motor Trade (14 per cent) and the Other Business Activities (16 per cent).
For the period under review, the most significant reductions in the hours worked index were registered in the Retail Trade sector and the Computer and Related Activities.
The index for the Retail Trade fell by 13.6 per cent, from 88 per cent to 76 per cent, and the index for the Computer and Related Activities was down by 0.9 per cent, from 106.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2005 to 105.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2006.
The Air Transport Index registered a fall of 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2005 compared to 2006. In the Hours Worked Index from Q1 2005 to Q1 2006, the three sectors that registered the highest increases were the Other Business Activities (33.3 per cent), the Motor Trade (8.2 per cent) and the Land Transport (6.4 per cent).