Minister of Labour and Labour Market Regulatory Authority Chairman, Jameel Humaidan announced here that there is a continued growth in employment in the Kingdom with an increase of about 5 per cent.He pointed out a rise in national employment registered at the Public Authority for Social Insurance to more than 156.4 thousand by the end of the first quarter of this year. The total number of foreign workers amounted to 538.5 thousand, which is an indicator reflecting the strength of the economy and the stability of the labour market and its ability to create more job opportunities.

The statistics have appeared in a report presented by the Labour Minister, which was examined by the Cabinet in its meeting on Monday, which included monitoring and controlling the changes in the key indicators of the labour market.

Humaidan stated that the total number of workers in the Kingdom of Bahrain at the end of the first quarter of this year is 694,909, registering an annual increase of 5 pc compared to 661,527 workers during the same period in 2014. This increase indicates the domestic market growth and the entry of new investments, which lead to a rising demand for domestic and foreign labour.

He added that the total national employment registered at the Public Authority for Social Insurance continued to rise (in both public and private sector) reaching the number 156,429 by that time, recording a growth rate of 1.9 pc compared to the same period last year with 153,525 workers. These figures demonstrate the ability of Bahrain’s economy to create job opportunities for citizens, as well as the efforts made by the Labour Ministry in employing the unemployed.

Foreign labor has seen a yearly rise of 6 pc at the end of the first quarter of 2015, reaching 538,480 workers in comparison to 508,002 at the first quarter of 2014.

The report pointed out that average wages for Bahrainis in the first quarter have raised up to BD519, presenting an annual increase of 1.6 pc compared to BD511 in the same quarter of 2014. Average wages in the private have reached BD388, with an annual increase of 3.5 pc, while the public sector amounted to BD673 with an annual increase of 2.1 pc.