A total of 260,109 people were in employment in the fourth quarter of 2020, a drop of 0.8% from the same period a year before, the National Statistics Office said.

Based on the Labour Force Survey, the figure is estimated to account for 59.5% of the population aged 15 and over.

The number of unemployed stood at 11,886 (2.7% of that population) while inactive persons totalled 165,008 (37.8%). 

The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 77.3%, with the highest rate recorded among those aged 25 to 54 (88.7%). 

The employed population 

On average, 74 people of every 100 persons aged between 15 and 64 years were employed. The male employment rate for this age bracket was 82.4% while that for females stood at 64.2%. The largest share of employed persons was recorded among those aged between 25 and 34 years, for both males and females.

Self-employed persons accounted for 16% of all people with a main job. The majority of employed persons worked on a full-time basis and amounted to 229,255. A further 30,854 had a part-time job as their primary employment.

On average, full-timers usually worked 41.9 hours per week while part-timers worked 21.8 hours. In the fourth quarter of 2020, employed persons worked an average of 34.6 hours per week, 2.6 hours less when compared to the previous year. 

The average monthly basic salary of employees for the fourth quarter of 2020 was estimated at €1,555, with the highest basic salary being recorded in the financial and insurance activities sector.

Average monthly salaries varied from €1,041 among people employed in elementary occupations to €2,264 among managers. 

The unemployed and inactive population 

The unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2020 stood at 4.4%. The largest share of unemployed was recorded among those aged 25 to 74 years. Females accounted for 60.8% of total inactive people and those over 65 years made up the highest share of the inactive.

More than 40% were inactive because they had reached retirement age or were taking up early retirement. 

Education attainment 

Nearly half of those aged 15 years and over had attained a low level of education. In contrast, 34.7% of the employed had a tertiary level of education.