Employment in Bahrain’s financial services industry grew by 1.5 per cent during 2010, with a total of 14,342 people employed at end-2010, compared with 14,137 at end-2009, a report said.

The Bahraini workforce employed in the financial services sector reached 9467 in 2010, an increase of 154 compared to 2009, according to the annual survey conducted by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).

The main driver of job growth was the non-bank financial sector (comprising insurance firms, money brokers, money changers, financing companies, investment business firms, and other no-bank financial institutions) which added 356 new jobs, an increase of 7.5 per cent, taking the number to 5077 employees. Job growth in the insurance sector hit 11.5 per cent to 2297 jobs in 2010 from 2060 in 2009.

The banking sector underwent a slight decrease in employment. Total employment in the banking sector reached 8782 at end-2010 compared with 8946 at end-2009, the report said.-TradeArabia News Service