Government labour force increased by 880 people or 1.7% in June 2018 compared to the same month of 2017, the Statistical Service reported on Wednesday.

It said that casual staff increased by 10.0% and reached 16,674 persons compared to 15,161 persons in June 2017, while permanent staff recorded a drop of 633 persons or -1.8%.

All categories of government labour force increased compared to June 2017, except for hourly paid workers. The largest increase was in security forces (5.6%) where casual staff increased by 17.0% or 814 persons.

Furthermore, the staff in education and security forces as well as hourly paid workers increased by 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.5% respectively, compared to May 2018, while the number of staff in Civil Service remained unchanged.