The jobs sector continued to perform robustly in September, despite the economic problems caused by COVID-19, official figures show. But there was a sharp drop in part-time employment in the accommodation and food services sectors.
The National Statistics Office said on Tuesday that registered full-time employment increased by 4.6 per cent while part-time employment as a primary job decreased by 9.9 per cent when compared to September 2019.
Over a period of one year, the labour supply (excluding part-timers) in September 2020 increased by 5.4 per cent, reaching 234,964. This was mainly attributed to a year-on-year increase in the full-time registered employment (10,218) and an increase in registered unemployment (1,717).
Full-time employment
The highest increase in employment was brought about by administrative and support service activities and human health and social work activities, with 2,596 and 1,700 respectively.
Full-time employment in the private sector went up by 8,813 persons to 181,653. Public sector full-time employment increased by 1,405 persons to 49,926.
The number of people registered as full-time self-employed rose by 2,476 when compared to September 2019, while the number of persons registered as employees increased by 7,742. Full-time employment for men and women went up by 4.2 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively over 2019 levels.
Part-time jobs - sharp drop in accommodation and food services sectors
Registered part-time employment in September 2020 decreased by 3.1 per cent when compared to the same month in 2019. Agriculture, forestry and fishing followed by public administration and defence; compulsory social security recorded the highest increases in part-time employment with 237 and 192 respectively.
On the other hand, employment within the accommodation and food services activities decreased by 1,415 when compared to September 2019.
The number of part-timers who also held a full-time job amounted to 31,674 up by 5.0 per cent, when compared to the corresponding month in 2019. Employed persons whose part-time job was their primary occupation totalled 32,136, down by 9.9 per cent when compared to 2019.