PN says private sector should remain driving force of local economy

The Nationalist party has welcomed the latest statistics on the number of persons gainfully occupied, pointing out that fudl-time employment had increased by 4.3% largely as a result of a 5.5% increase in full-time employment in the private sector.

“The public sector headcount increased again by over 500 persons between March of last year and the corresponding month this year and again surpassed the 44,000 mark,” PN added in their statement. 

The statement adds that recognising that the public sector ratio of employment to total employment has fallen from 27% to 26.2%, the Opposition calls on the government to ensure that the private sector continues to be the driving force behind the Maltese economy and that public sector employment is kept in check.

Yesterday, statistics published by the NSO showed that over a period of one year, the labour supply (excluding part-timers) had increased by 3.1%, reaching 174,030. It added that the increase was mainly attributed to an increase in the full-time gainfully occupied population (6,972) and a drop in registered unemployment (1,750).

In a statement in reaction to the statistics, the government pointed out that the private sector has seen an added 10,200 people in full-time employment since the beginning of the administration, which translates to eight out of every ten jobs created in the private sector.

“Full time public employment currently stands at 26.2% of total full-time employment, whereas under the previous administration this figure was at 26.7%,” the government said, adding that developments had removed pressure from the public sector, but that the government had increased resources in the public services sector anyway.

“There are currently 1,200 more employees in the public health and education services sector compared to the previous administration,” it added, explaining that statistics had also shown 800 new jobs in Gozo.