The rest of Italy may be suffering from high unemployment but the capital is proving to be the exception. According to the city council statistics office, employment among the Roman working age population, 15 to 64 year olds, stands at 61.8 per cent compared to 58.5 per cent in Lazio and 57.4 per cent in Italy overall. Unemployment in the capital at 7.2 per cent is below the regional average of 7.9 per cent and the national rate of 8.1 per cent. Many of the newly created jobs stem from the growth in liberi professionisti (independent professionals) and part time workers; the former now account for 9.2 per cent of employed people in Rome, compared to 5 per cent nationwide, while 16.2 per cent of jobs are part-time based compared to 12.7 per cent in the whole of Italy.