Unemployment rate rises in Jamaica – CNW Network

Jamaica’s unemployment rate has risen slightly, with the latest Labour Force Survey showing 80,700 people unemployed at the start of the year.

this Statistics Jamaica (STATIN) announced the new findings on Wednesday.

Leesha Delatie-Budair, deputy director of STATIN, said the unemployment rate was 5.4% after The interest rate will be 4.2% at the close of 2023

“The unemployment rate for men was 4% and for women was 7.1%. By age group, youth unemployment was highest at 16.0%, while those aged 55 and over had the lowest rate at 1.7%. For people of prime working age, the unemployment rate was 4.4%.”

She explained that households with children 18 and under have higher unemployment rates than households without children under 18.

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“So if you live in a household with children, we found that the unemployment rate for these people is higher, at 6.6%. The rate is also higher for households with minor children, that is, children aged 6 years or younger. The unemployment rate for people living in households with children aged 6 years and younger is 7.1%,” she outlined.

On the other hand, the latest labour force survey shows that the majority of employed Jamaicans are in the service and sales sectors.

STATIN said the labor force will number about 1.4 million people as of January 2024, or about two-thirds of the population aged 15 and over.

Leesha Delatie-Budair, deputy director of STATIN, said about 970,000 people were employed in the service sector.

“Of these, 659,000 were employed in market services, including trade, transport, accommodation and food, and business and administrative services. Another 310,200 were employed in non-market services, including public administration, community, social and other services and activities.”

240,400 people are employed in manufacturing, construction, mining and quarrying, electricity, gas and water supply. An estimated 195,300 people are employed in agriculture, the majority of whom are men (145,600).

Ms. De Lati-Budel explained that the occupational group with the largest number of employees is “service and sales workers,” which employs 328,600 people.

“This represents 23.4% of the total employed population. This group also employs the largest number of women, at 213,300. The second largest occupational group is elementary occupations, which employ 197,900 people, followed by skilled agriculture, forestry and fishing workers, which employ 188,200 people. For men, the occupation with the largest number of employees is craft and related trade workers, with 153,200 people,” revealed Ms. Delatie-Budair.

Statin said changes in the revised labor force survey include adjusting the reference week, updating the minimum age limit and strictly defining the unemployment rate.

The reference week for the Labour Force Survey has moved from the last full week of the previous quarter to the first full week of the current quarter.

Even if a person works one hour during the reference week, he or she is considered employed.

The minimum age for participation in the survey has been raised from 14 to 15 years; in line with ILO regulations.