The best February for jobs in years

Private-sector salaried employment increased by 27,840 jobs in February, a month which not only saw a rise in the minimum wage but also the growth of part-time positions compared to full-time work, figures from the Labor Ministry’s Ergani hirings database showed on Friday.

The February statistics from Ergani revealed that almost half of the new jobs were in the sectors of food service, hotels, education and wholesale commerce. On the other hand there were net layoffs in the areas of transport equipment manufacturing, arts and entertainment, and water and power services.

Hirings outnumbered departures in February – for the sixth month in a row. There were 11,212 more hirings than the same month last year. The increase in job numbers by 27,840 last month made it the best February since 2001.

Minister Effie Achtsioglou stated that the monthly high in job creation at the same time the minimum wage increase was introduced proves that those who had warned of negative consequences on the labor market were wrong.

In the first two months of 2019 hirings amounted to 322,251 and departures numbered 316,744.