Catholics have made significant progress in the workplace in the North over the past 10 years, according to a report by the Equality Commission.
The overall composition of the monitored workforce was 60.4 per cent Protestant and 39.6 per cent Catholic. Surveys indicate the economically active population in the North is 58 per cent Protestant and 42 per cent Catholic.
The Catholic share of the monitored workforce has increased from 34.9 per cent in 1990 to 39.6 per cent in 2000. Catholic women find it easier to secure work than Catholic men. They make up 42.5 per cent of the female working population; Catholic men comprise 37 per cent.
In the past decade, Catholics have secured a larger share of work in a range of sectors with particular progress being made in the public sector. The gap between Catholics and Protestants in work narrowed less in the past year - 0.1 per cent - than in previous years when there was a steady reduction of about 0.5 per cent a year.
The Equality Commission blamed the decline on certain employment sectors such as textiles, but it was confident the equalising trend would continue as jobs were created. Returns for applicants and appointees, where fair employment legislation has its greatest effect, were around 55 per cent Protestant and 45 per cent Catholic.
"This gives every reason for optimism that economic growth will bring an equality dividend in terms of a workforce balance which reflects the composition of the community," said Ms Joan Harbinson, the Equality Commission's chief commissioner.
The report, released on Monday, showed a significant reduction in the number of Catholic employees in lower-skilled occupations.
Catholics account for 47 per cent of those employed in the health sector but only 8.7 per cent of those working in security-related occupations. After the exclusion of security-related occupations, the representation of Catholics in the public sector has reached the overall representation of Catholics in the economically active population.
Catholics remained underrepresented in the North's leading newspapers. They accounted for 25.1 per cent of Belfast Telegraph and 25.4 per cent of Century Newspaper employees. Protestants were similarly under-represented in the Irish News, accounting for 22.3 per cent of employees.