Employment in the last quarter of last year increased by 4.2% compared to the same period a year earlier, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said Thursday.

From October to December, total employment stood at 325,631, equating to two-thirds of the population aged 15 or over.

Meanwhile, the number of unemployed persons stood at just over 9,500, while inactive persons totalled almost 160,000.

The NSO said that on average, 81 out of every 100 people between the ages of 15 and 64 were employed, with male employment standing at just under 87% and female employment just under 74%.

Those between the ages of 25 and 34 made up the largest share of the employed, it noted.

There were just under 290,000 full-time employees during the period under review, while over 36,000 had a part-time job as their main employment. Self-employed persons accounted for under 14% of the workforce.

Full-timers usually worked 41.1 hours per week, while part-timers worked 23.1 hours. And the number of hours worked seemed to have increased; employed persons overall worked 34.7 hours per week, 1.9 more than the same quarter of the previous year.

The average monthly basic salary was just shy of €2,000 during the period under review, with the highest salaries recorded in the financial and insurance sectors. Average salaries ranged from €1,239 for those in elementary occupations to €3,170 for those in managerial roles, the NSO said.