Q3 employment reached 268,987

During the third quarter of 2021, the Labour Force Survey estimates that total number of persons in employment was 268,987, 3.6% higher when compared to the previous year.

Labour Force Survey estimates indicated that, during the third quarter, total employment stood at 268,987 accounting for 60.7% of the population aged 15 and over. Unemployed persons stood at 9,897 (2.2%) while inactive persons totalled 163,938 (37.0%).

The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 78.0% with the highest rate recorded among persons aged 25 to 54 (88.3%).

The Employed Population

On average, out of every 100 persons aged between 15 and 64 years, 75 were employed. The male employment rate for this age bracket was 83.0% while that for females stood at 66.2%. 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 15.5% of all persons with a main job. The majority of employed persons worked on a full-time basis and amounted to 239,362.  A further 29,625 had a part-time job as their primary employment. Results show that, on average, full-timers usually worked 41.4 hours while part-timers worked

22.6 hours per week. In the third quarter of 2021, employed persons actually worked 33.5 hours per week, 0.5 hours less when compared to the previous year.

The average monthly basic salary of employees for the third quarter of 2021 was estimated at €1,635. The highest basic salary was recorded in the Financial and insurance activities sector.

Average monthly salaries varied from €1,013 among persons employed in elementary occupations to €2,824 among managers.

The Unemployed and Inactive Population

The unemployment rate for the third quarter of 2021, stood at 3.6%. The largest share of unemployed persons was recorded among persons aged 25 to 74 years. Females accounted for 60.7% of total inactive persons and those over 65 years made up the highest share of the inactive.

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

Education Attainment

Almost half of the persons aged 15 years and over had attained a low level of education.

By contrast, 33.8% of the employed had a tertiary level education.