Two out of five women of working age were employed last year and a quarter of them had part-time jobs, according to official figures.

But although the numbers pointed towards an improvement on 2004 when only one in five women were employed, Malta still stands on the lowest rung in the EU league table.

While the average female employment rate (a percentage of the female working age population) in the EU stood at 58 per cent last year, Malta languished in last place at 41 per cent.

The Labour Force Survey published yesterday by the National Statistics Office covering the period between 2004 and 2011, showed that women were the main driver behind an increase in the overall employment rate.

The selected period coincides with Lawrence Gonzi’s tenure as Prime Minister.

The survey showed that 58 per cent of working-age men and women last year were employed as opposed to 54 per cent in 2004.

However, despite the improvement, Malta still had the fourth lowest employment rate in the EU at par with Spain and better than Italy, Hungary and Greece. The average EU employment rate was 64 per cent.

The survey confirmed an increasing trend for part-time employment as a main job. Last year 13 per cent of employed people had a part-time job, an increase of four percentage points since 2004.

The percentage of self-employed individuals remained relatively stable at 13 per cent.