In February 2015, registered full-time employment increased by 4.1 per cent when compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, the NSO said.

Administrative data provided by the ETC show that over a period of one year, the labour supply (excluding part-timers) increased by 3.0 per cent, reaching 173,549. This was mainly due to an increase of 6,622 persons in the full-time gainfully occupied population and a drop of 1,563 persons in registered unemployment.

Registered full-time employment

In February 2015, administrative and support service activities and professional, scientific and technical activities contributed mostly to the increase in employment, compared to February 2014. Registered full-time employment in the private sector went up by 6,180 persons to 123,467. Public sector fulltime employment increased by 442 persons to 43,892.

The number of persons registered as full-time self-employed rose by 555 when compared to February 2014, while the number of persons registered as employees increased by 6,067. Full-time employment for males and females went up by 3.2 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively over 2014 levels.