The net increase in public sector employment between the general election and the end of June stood at nearly 2,500, as registered full-time workers surged by more than 6,000 nationwide, new figures show.

At 43,939 full-time employees, public sector employment has risen by 2,432 since Labour came into power in March of 2013.

Over the past year alone (June 2013 to June 2014), the number rose by 2,108, according to figures released by the National Statistics Office. These do not include the replacement of retirees, who retire at the rate of about 1,500 every year.

Registered full-time employment in Malta and Gozo increased by 3.9 per cent, or 6,134, in the 12 months to June.

One in three of those new jobs was government related, with the rest created in the private sector.

The number of gainfully occupied reached 163,797 by the end of June. Among those were about 60,000 women, a figure that is rising: over the year, the number of women joining the workforce was more than double that of men.

The number of part-time workers rose by 5.9 per cent.

The main contributors to the overall increase in part-time employment were the wholesale and retail trades, repair of motor vehicles and accommodation and food services.

In June, the number of part-timers who also held a full-time job amounted to 24,472, up by 4.3 per cent from the previous year.

According to the NSO, by June 2014 there were 18,704 self-employed workers.

Unemployment dropped to 6,751 from 7,279 registered a year earlier