The activity rate for the population aged 15 to 64 went up from 58.7 per cent to 61.6 per cent between 2004 and 2011, the NSO said today. This was mainly attributed to a rise in women's participation in the labour market, which increased by 7.6 percentage points.
In contrast, men's activity rate saw a net decline of 2.2 percentage points over the same period.
The number of employed persons (as a percentage of the population of working age) increased from 54.5 per cent in 2004 to 57.6 per cent in 2011. Once again, women contributed for most of this increase, especially those within the 25-54 age bracket.
During 2011, the unemployment rates for the 15-24 and 25+ age brackets stood at 13.7 and 5.0 per cent respectively indicating a higher tendency of unemployment among the younger cohort. Theunemployment rate among women remained higher than that for men, despite descreasing by nearly 2 percentage points since 2004.
The increase in women's participation in the labour market contributed towards a decrease in the total inactivity rate among persons aged 25-54 by nearly nine percentage points since 2004.
On the contrary, there was an increase in the inactivity rate among the 15-24 year old population, the NSO said. This may be linked to the the fact that more young persons are pursuing their studies.
Last year, an estimated 13.5 per cent of all persons with a main occupation were self-employed. This indicator remained relatively stable during the years under review.
The proportion of persons with a part-time main job increased from 8.9 per cent in 2004 to 13.1 per cent in 2011.
The number of persons aged 18-24 who had a secondary level qualification or less, and who were not in education or training, dropped from 42.3 per cent in 2004 to 33.5 per cent in 2011.
The female early school leavers rate dropped most sharply, indicating that more women are choosing to pursue their studies at higher levels than in previous years.
The percentage of persons aged between 30 and 34 with a tertiary educational level increased from 17.8 per cent in 2004 to 21.2 per cent in 2011.