Registered full-time employment increased by 4.3 per cent in April when compared to the same month last year.

The National Statistics Office said that according to administrative data provided by the Employment and Training Corporation shows that the labour supply (excluding part-timers) over one year increased by 3.1 per cent, reaching 174,408.

This was mainly attributed to an increase in the full-time gainfully occupied population (7,037) and a drop in registered unemployment.

The number of persons registered as full-time self-employed rose by 581 when compared, while the number of persons registered as employees increased by 6,456.

Full-time employment for men and women went up by 3.4 per cent and 6.1 per cent respectively over 2014 levels.

Government reaction

The government in a statement said that the current employment rate of growth is three times that of the former administration.

It observed that at the end of April, the number of full time employees rose to 168,840, an increase of 13,450 full time jobs during the term of the current government so far.

Under the former government, the number of jobs grew by 11,250 in five years.

The government noted that the steepest growth was in administrative services, with an increase of 3,000 jobs.