The number of people who hold a part-time job over and above their full-time work increased by more than 10 per cent in a year, new statistics have revealed.

Data provided by Jobsplus to the National Statistics Office showed that, in March, there were almost 29,000 part-timers who also held a full-time job, up by 10.4 per cent when compared to March 2018.

Employed people whose part-time job was their primary occupation totalled 34,771, up by 1.5 per cent when compared to the previous year.

Registered full-time employment in the private sector went up by 11,558 persons to 166,278, the NSO said. Public sector full-time employment increased by 812 persons to 47,700. 

The number of people registered as full-time self-employed rose by 1,619 when compared to March 2018, while the number of persons registered as employees increased by 10,751. Full-time employment for men and women went up by 5.5 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively over 2018 levels. 

Part-time work also grew by 5.3 per cent when compared to a year earlier. The overall increase was mainly generated by professional, scientific and technical activities, arts, entertainment and recreation. On the other hand, part-time employment in accommodation and activities related to food services registered a drop of 310 persons when compared to March 2018.

Total labour supply in March increased by six per cent over March 2018, for a total of 215,750. This is being attributed to an increase in the full-time registered employment (12,370) and a decline in registered unemployment (182). 

The highest increase in employment was brought about by professional, scientific and technical activities as well as human health and social work activities.