The gross annual salary of employees last March was estimated at Lm4,982 million liri, according to the labour force survey published by the National Statistics Office yesterday.

The average annual salary of the best paid workers, who included senior officials and managers, was Lm8,717. The lowest paid workers, including cleaners, messengers and delivery workers earned an average gross annual salary of Lm3,918.

Eighty-six per cent of those who work are employees.

The total number of full-timers was 135,270 or 90.9 per cent.

The average age for male full-timers was 39 while for women the mean age was 33. About 10,000 people were estimated to work part-time.

The average age for men part-timers was 33 compared with 37 for women.

There were 148,798 people in employment last March out of whom one fourth were aged between 25 and 34. The mean age for females was 34 and for males 39.

The labour force, made up of both the employed and the unemployed, stood at 159,384 of whom 109,800 were men.

Between March 2002 and the same month this year, there was an estimated increase in employment of 4,913 people. These additional jobs were registered in transport, storage and communication, real estate, renting and business and in public administration.

Drops were registered mainly in the manufacturing sector.

Last March, unemployment stood at 6.6 per cent which in absolute terms is about 10,586.

Of these, 40.4 per cent were aged between 15 and 24 while 34.4 per cent (3,645) had been looking for a job for 18 months or more. Out of these, 3,089 are men.

The labour force survey is carried out on a quarterly basis by the NSO. The inquiry involves a random sample of 2,500 private households and the definitions and criteria used match the methodology of the International Labour Organisation.

The information relates to a reference week which for the purpose of this survey was March 17-23.