Full-time workers worked an average of 40.6 hours per week in the first quarter of the year while part-timers worked 21.5 hours, Labour Force Survey estimates show.

According to the estimates, published by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday, in the first quarter employed persons worked 0.1 hours more per week when compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

The average monthly basic salary of employees for the first quarter of 2023 was estimated at €1,848. The highest basic salary was recorded in the financial and insurance activities sector.

Average monthly salaries varied from €1,189 among persons employed in elementary occupations to €2,995 among managers.

Labour status

The estimates show that in the first quarter there were 291,756 in employment, 5.3% more when compared to the previous year.

This represented 63% of the population aged 15 and over. Unemployed persons stood at 8,585 (1.9%) while inactive persons totalled 163,113 (35.2%).

The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 80.4% with the highest rate recorded among persons aged 25 to 54 (91.5%).

Other NSO statistics based on figures provided by Jobs Plus and published on Tuesday showed that registered full-time employment in January increased by 8.6%, while part-time employment as a primary job increased by 4% when compared to a year earlier.

The employed population

On average, out of every 100 people aged between 15 and 64 years, 78 were employed.

The male employment rate for this age bracket was 83.8% while that for females stood at 71.4%.

The largest share of employed persons was recorded among persons aged between 25 and 34 years, for both males and females.

Self-employed persons accounted for 15% of all persons with a main job. The majority of employed persons (256,592) worked full-time. Another 35,164 had a part-time job as their primary employment.