More women join island’s labour force

There were far more women in the workforce in June when compared with the same period a year earlier, according to official figures.

Average gross salary of employees was estimated to be €15,480

With an employment rate of almost 44 per cent in the April to June quarter, the number of women working increased by more than three percentage points over 2011.

The employment rate calculates the number of people in a job as a percentage of the working age population aged between 15 and 64.

In contrast, employment among men dropped by one percentage point.

The overall employment rate stood at 58 per cent, a slight increase over last year.

The statistics formed part of the Labour Force Survey published by the National Statistics Office last week.

The survey estimates indicate that nearly half of the population aged 15 and over was employed in the second quarter while 11,977 were unemployed.

Most employed men were engaged in wholesale and retail trade, the repair of motor vehicles and household goods, hotels and restaurants and the transport and communication sectors.

Employed women were mostly engaged in other service activities, which include jobs in public administration, education, the health sector and social and personal service activities.

The majority of employed people, 148,438, or 86 per cent, were working on a full-time basis and, 23,290 were engaged in part-time jobs.

The NSO said that during the period the average gross annual salary of employees was estimated at €15,480.

This amount refers to the basic salary and excludes extra payments such as overtime, bonuses and allowances.