Malta saw the largest increase in job vacancies among EU member states between July and September compared to the same period last year, according to EU figures
The government expressed satisfaction at the rising number of job opportunities being offered by the local economy.
The job vacancy rate in September was 2.5 per cent of all jobs, both occupied and vacant, a 0.5 per cent increase. The Maltese data only took into consideration the services, industry and construction sectors.
The job vacancy rate across the EU stood at 1.6 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2013.
A job vacancy is defined as a paid post (newly created, unoccupied or about to become vacant) for which the employer is taking active steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned.
The government said it was committed to attracting more people to the labour market and was implementing free childcare and fiscal incentives to encourage more women to work
Under this definition, a job vacancy should be open to outside candidates. But it does not exclude the possibility of the employer recruiting an internal candidate. A post open only to internal candidates is not treated as a job vacancy.
In a statement, the government noted that the Eurostat statistics only included business units employing more than 10 people. Therefore job opportunities which exist among smaller companies are not included.
The statistics should be interpreted in the light of the excellent results achieved by Malta in the creation of jobs, the government said.
It added that it was committed to attracting more people to the labour market and was implementing important measures, such as free childcare and fiscal incentives, to encourage more women to work. It was also offering in-work incentives for people on social benefits and was increasing investment in training and education such as through the Youth Guarantee Scheme.
“Through the optimism of new investors and of our existing businesses, our country will keep grabbing the opportunity to be among the best countries in Europe,” the government said. The highest rates for job vacancies in the third quarter of 2014 among member states were recorded in Germany (2.7 per cent), Belgium and the United Kingdom, while the lowest rates were registered by Cyprus and Latvia, Poland and Spain.