For the past four years, the activity rate in the labour market stood at an average of 58.2 per cent, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday. The male activity rate for 2005 stood at 77.9 per cent whereas the rate for females reached 37.0 per cent.

The activity rate is defined as the number of persons in the labour force (aged between 15-64 years) as a percentage of the working population in the same age bracket.

Over the past four years 54 persons out of every 100 persons in the labour force were employed (employment rate). An analysis of employment rates by age group illustrates that the highest rates for males are found in the 25 to 54 age bracket (90 per cent for 2005) whereas female employment rates tend to be higher in the 15 to 24 age bracket (42.9 per cent in 2005).

For the four years under study, an average of 7.2 persons out of every 100 persons in the labour force were unemployed (unemployment rate).

Participation in education or training

For 2005, the average number of persons (aged 25-64 years) participating in education or training was 5.3 per cent.

Of the persons aged between 25 to 64 years an average over the four years of 16.1 per cent participating in education or training had already achieved a tertiary level of education. Over the past four years, an average of 9.7 per cent had achieved post secondary education (Medium Education), while a further two per cent had achieved secondary education or less.

Of the persons aged 20 to 24 years having achieved upper secondary, a constant increase was recorded over the period of four years, with the indicator value being 44.9 per cent in 2002 and the value of 56.2 per cent for 2005. By contrast the percentage of early school leavers which is defined as the number of 18 to 24 year olds having achieved lower secondary or less and not in education or training as a proportion of the total population in the same age bracket has been on the decline since 2002. The figure for 2005 was estimated to be 38.1 per cent.

Employment characteristics

An analysis of employment rates by age group illustrates that the highest rates for males are found in the 25 to 54 age bracket (90 per cent for 2005) whereas female employment rates tend to be higher in the 15 to 24 age bracket (42.9 per cent in 2005).

The average employment rate for persons aged between 15 to 24 years over the four years was 46.7 per cent. At this age bracket, the average employment gender gap, which is defined as the difference in employment rates between men and women in percentage points over the four years was recorded to be 3.2 per cent.

Over the past four years, the average employment rate in FTE stood at 51.7 per cent. The average male employment rate in FTE was estimated around 72.7 per cent whilst that rate for women stood at 30.4 per cent.

For the period under review, the average number of male employees employed as part timers was 4.2 per cent, while the percentage of female employees having a part time job as their main occupation was estimated at 20.0 per cent.

When calculating the imbalance by economic activity, the largest representative gender imbalance was found to be in the manufacturing, with an estimated 10.9 per cent more women being employed in this section for 2005. In terms of occupations, elementary occupations had the largest gender imbalance with an estimate of 7.0 per cent for 2005.

The gender pay gap which is defined as the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and women aged between 16 to 64 years as a percentage of male average gross hourly earnings for paid employees who work 15 hours or more, stood at 3.3 per cent for December 2005. The average over the past four years was 4.2 per cent.

From December 2002 till 2005, the mean hours worked for full timers stood at 40.4 hours. Over the past four years, an average of 12.4 per cent of the full time employed persons wished to increase the number of hours worked, while an average of 27.6 per cent of the part time employed persons wished to increase the number of hours worked.

Unemployment characteristics

Over the past four years, the average number of unemployed persons aged between 15 to 24 years as a share total population in the same age bracket stood at 8.8 per cent.

The males youth unemployment ratio stood at 9.4 per cent while the average rate for females was 8.1 per cent. For the years under review, an average of 3.4 per cent in the active population were unemployed for more than a year.

Inactive characteristics

The highest inactivity rates for both sexes during 2005 were estimated to be in the 55 to 64 age bracket, with 51 per cent for males and 88 per cent for females.

The data in this release are based on statistical samples, and as such, estimates carry a sampling error. A measure of the sampling error is the standard error. With respect to the employment rate the LFS estimate for 2005 is 53.7 per cent and the coefficient of variation is 1.58 per cent. Hence, the employment rate lies between 52.0 and 55.4 per cent.