The number of people in full-time work increased by more than 10,000 between September 2017 and the same period 12 months previously, figures released on Wednesday showed. 

Employee numbers were up by 9,611 over that period, with 792 more registering as being in full-time self-employed work, according to National Statistics Office figures. 

The increase marked an improvement of 4.5 per cent for men and 7.6 per cent for women on 2016 full-time employment levels.

Private sector full-time employment was up by 9,173 persons to 147,822, with public sector full-time employment up by 1,230 persons to 46,020.

The additional workers bumped Malta's labour force up by 5.2 per cent, reaching 196,314 in September. 

In September 2017, most new employment was in the administrative and support service sectors, with work in the arts, entertainment and recreational sectors also contributing. 

Part-time work

Registered part-time employment in September 2017 went up by 4.1 per cent when compared to a year earlier, with the wholesale and retail, vehicle repair and professional scientific and technical sectors the biggest contributors. 

The number of persons who also held a secondary job amounted to 25,992 up by 9.1 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2016. Employed persons whose part-time job was their primary occupation totalled 35,685, up by 0.7 per cent when compared to 2016.