Labour Force estimates show 5.4% increase in employment at the end of 2019

Unemployed persons during the fourth quarter of 2019 stood at 8,541 (2%), with 258,066 or 60% of the population aged 15 and over-employed, contributing to an increase of 5.4% over the corresponding quarter in 2018.

Inactive persons totalled 163,577 (38%). Over 40% were inactive because they had reached retirement age or were taking up early retirement.

On average, out of every 100 persons aged between 15 to 64 years, 74 were employed according to Labour Force Survey estimates released on Thursday by the NSO. The male employment rate for this age bracket was 83.4% while that for females stood at 63.7%. The largest share of employed persons was recorded among persons aged between 25 and 34 years.

Self-employed persons accounted for 15.5% of all persons with a main job. The majority of employed persons worked on a full-time basis totalling 222,079, and 35,985 had a part-time job as their primary employment. Results show that, on average, full-timers work 42.0 hours while part-timers work 21.7 hours per week.

The majority of employed people work in wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities, with 69,133 people employed in this sector in the last quarter of 2019.

The average basic salary in the last quarter of 2019 was a yearly €19,488.

The data was obtained through the Labour Force Survey, carried out using a quarterly gross sample of 3,200 private households.