In December 2016, registered full-time employment increased by 5.3 per cent, while part-time employment as a primary job increased by 5.0 per cent when compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, the NSO said today.

Gainfully Occupied Population: December 2016

Administrative data provided by Jobsplus show that, over a period of one year, the labour supply (excluding part-timers, see methodological note 5) increased by 4.2 per cent, reaching 187,092. This  was mainly attributed to a year on year increase in the full-time gainfully occupied population (9,213) and a decline in registered unemployment (1,703).

Registered full-time employment

In December 2016, Administrative and support service activities and Arts, entertainment and recreation activities contributed mostly to the increase in employment, compared to December 2015. Registered full-time employment in the private sector went up by 8,506 persons to 139,019. Public sector full-time employment increased by 707 persons to 45,161.

The number of persons registered as full-time self-employed rose by 582 when compared to December 2015, while the number of persons registered as employees increased by 8,631 persons. Full-time employment for males and females went up by 4.2 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively over 2015 levels.

Registered part-time employment

Registered part-time employment in December 2016 went up by 5.7 per cent when compared to a year earlier. The sectors that contributed most to the overall increase were Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, Education, Transport and storage and Arts, entertainment and recreation.

The number of part-timers who also held a full-time job amounted to 24,312 up by 6.6 per cent (+1,511 persons) when compared to the corresponding month in 2015. Employed persons whose part-time job was their primary occupation totalled 34,938 up by 5.0 per cent (+1,675 persons) when compared to 2015.