Full-time employment increased by 3.5 per cent in May when compared to the same month last year, while part-time employment as a primary job rose by 6.3 per cent, the NSO said today.

Over a period of one year, the labour supply (excluding part-timers) increased by 3.2 per cent, reaching 169,297. This was mainly attributed to an increase in the full-time gainfully occupied population (+5,432) and a drop in registered unemployment (-151).
 
During May, Administrative and Support Services Activities and the Human Health and Social Work Activities contributed most to the increase in employment, compared to the corresponding month last year.

Registered full-time employment in the private sector went up by 3,611 persons, to 118,577. Public sector full-time employment increased by 1,821 to 43,579.

The number of persons registered as full-time self-employed rose by 508 when compared to May last year, while the number of persons registered as employees increased by 4,924. Male and female full-time employment went up by 2.5 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively over 2013 levels.

Part-Time Employment

Registered part-time employment in May went up by 5.5 per cent when compared to last year. The sectors that contributed mostly to the overall increase in part-time employment were Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles (+648 persons), followed by Accommodation and Food Service activities (+508).

In May, the number of part-timers who also held a full-time job amounted to 24,455, up by 4.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding month last year. Employed persons whose part-time job was their primary occupation totalled 34,794, up by 6.3 per cent, or2,058 persons, when compared to 2013 levels.

PN REACTION

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said the data for the gainfully occupied population confirmed that the government in its first 14 months had engaged 3,800 workers in the public sector. This when 1,500 retired every year.

Instead of a labour market based on the private sector, Malta now had a labour market based on the public service.

The situation contradicted what Finance Minister Edward Scicluna had said about engaging fewer workers than the number who retired.

They also showed that Prof Scicluna was wrong when he said that the number of workers in the public sector had increased because of reclassification of some workers.