Employment in the first quarter stood at 181,537, accounting for more than half the population aged 15 and over, according to Labour Force Survey.
The National Statistics Office said unemployed persons stood at 11,012 (3.1 per cent) while inactive persons totalled 166,360 (46.3 per cent).
The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 66.1 per cent. The highest activity rate was recorded among persons aged 25-54 (79.6 per cent). When compared to the previous year, the total activity rate increased by 0.4 percentage points.
On average, out of every 100 persons aged 15 to 64, 62 were employed.
Self-employed persons accounted for 14 per cent of the total employed population. The majority of employed persons worked on a full-time basis and totalled 153,419.
An estimated 23,702 (13.1 per cent) had a part-time job as their primary employment. A further 4,416 were working on a full-time with reduced hours basis.
The average annual basic salary of employees for the first quarter of 2015 was estimated at €16,329. This referred to the annual basic salary and excluded extra payments such as overtime, bonuses and allowances. The highest average annual basic salary for employees was recorded in the information and communication activities sector. Average annual salaries by occupation varied from €27,572 among managers to €10,872 among elementary staff.
Survey results estimate that the unemployment rate for the first quarter of 2015, stood at 5.7 per cent. The largest share of unemployed persons was recorded among persons aged 25 and over. Among the unemployed, 48.3 per cent stated that they had been seeking work for at least a year.
The government in a statement welcomed the findings, pointing out that over the past two years Malta had its strongest ever rate of job creation.
It observed that in the first quarter of this year the employment rate was 62.3%, the highest ever in this quarter. Under the former government, it was 59.9%.
The number of people in employment by the end of March was 181,500, an increase of nearly 2,300 over the previous year, with the biggest beneficiaries of the increase being young people.
Unemployment had also dropped to 5.7% from 6% the previous year, also a record low.