Jobs increased by 3.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to the same quarter in the previous year, the NSO said today, quoting the Labour Force Survey.

Total employment stood at 192,807 accounting to more than half the population aged 15 and over. Unemployed persons totalled 8,522 (2.3 per cent) while inactive persons totalled 165,180 (45.1 per cent).

The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 69.1 per cent with the highest rate recorded among persons aged 25-54 (81.7 per cent).

On average, out of every 100 persons aged between 15 to 64 years, 66 were
employed. The employment rate for men for this age bracket was 78.8 per cent
while that for women stood at 52.9 per cent.

Self-employed persons accounted for 13.8 per cent of all persons with a main
job. The majority of employed persons worked on a full-time basis totalling 164,741, while 28,066 had a part-time job as their primary employment.

On average, full-timers worked 41.2 hours while part-timers worked 23.1 hours per week.

The average annual basic salary of employees for the fourth quarter of 2016 was estimated at €17,666.

The highest basic salary was recorded in the Financial and Insurance Service sector.

Average annual salaries varied from €31,076 among managers to €11,573 among persons employed in elementary occupations.

The unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2016, stood at 4.2 per cent. Among the unemployed, 59.7 per cent stated that they had been seeking work for less than 12 months.

The main reason for inactivity related to persons reaching retirement age or taking up early retirement (43.5 per cent).

Education attainment

According to the Labour Force Survey 57.3 per cent of the 15 plus population had attained a low level of education. This comprised persons with less than 5 ordinary level or equivalent qualifications. Among the employed population 26.9 per cent have a tertiary level education.