In March, 611,500 people worked in the Slovak industrial sector, which is 1.6 percent less than in the same period in 1996, the Slovak Statistical Bureau reported. During the first quarter of this year, the number of employees in the industrial sector declined by 0.8 percent on a year-to-year basis to 616,200 people. The number of employees in the private sector grew by 7.8 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period in 1996, to 436,500 people.
In the construction sector, 141,000 people were employed in March, which is 2.9 percent less than in March 1996. Employment in the private sector dropped 0.3 percent, although the private sector's share of total employment grew 2.3 percentage points to 86.9 percent. During the first quarter, 140,000 people worked in the sector, down by 3.4 percent from the same period in 1996.
