For the first quarter of 2006, the number of persons over 15 years of age was estimated to be 326,003. Of these, 151,018 or 46.3 per cent were employed, 12,737 were unemployed and 162,248 persons were inactive, according to National Statistics Office figures released yesterday.

In the period January to March 2006, out of every 100 persons between the age of 15 and 64, 58.9 per cent were either working or unemployed (activity rate).

The total activity rate for the same period last year stood at 58.8 per cent.

The activity rate for persons in the 15 to 24 age bracket stood at 52.7 per cent, which is less than the activity rate estimated for the same period last year (54.8 per cent).

With regard to employment for the first quarter of 2006, out of every 100 persons between the age of 15 and 64, 54.3 were working. Of these, the employment rate for males was 74.9 per cent and that of females stood at 33.3 per cent.

The total employment rate remained stable when compared to the period January to March 2005 (54.3 per cent). For persons in the 15 to 24 age bracket, the employment rate stood at 43.3 per cent.

The Employed Population

During January to March 2006, the total number of employed persons was estimated at 151,018 persons, with the majority or 25.5 per cent aged between 25 to 34 years. The mean age of employed males was 39 years, while that for females worked out at 34 years.

For the first quarter of this year, the majority or 17.9 per cent worked in the manufacturing sector, while a further 14.5 per cent worked in the wholesale and retail trade.

The most common category of occupations was service workers, shop and sales workers which amounted to 24,170 persons or 16.0 per cent, followed by technicians and associate professionals, a 15.4 per cent of the total employed.

The average gross annual salary for male employees was estimated to be Lm5,561 whereas that of female employees was Lm4,756. For the first quarter of 2006, the number of full-timers amounted to 136,034 persons. Of these, 73.9 per cent were males and the remaining 26.1 per cent were females.

On the other hand, 14,984 persons worked either full-time with reduced hours or part-time, of whom 31.4 per cent were males and 68.6 per cent were females. Similar distributions can be found in estimates for 2005.

The Unemployed Population

For the first three months of 2006, the total number of unemployed persons was estimated to be 12,737 persons.

The unemployment rate which is defined as the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labour force increased to 7.8 per cent for the first quarter of 2006. For the same period last year, the unemployment rate was estimated at 6.7 per cent.

Among the total number of unemployed in 2006, 40 per cent had been looking for a job for over a year, while a further 39.9 per cent had been looking for a job for less than 5 months. Similar distributions can be found in estimates for 2005.