Jamaica’s unemployment rate slipped in March this year to 13.2 percent versus 13.6 percent in March 2014, but with less persons employed in the 2015 period versus 2014.
According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica the government body charged with collecting and collating economic data on the country, the Employed Labour Force for April 2015 was 1,129,100, a total of 3,900 less than the 1,133,000 recorded in April 2014.
The Employment Rate rose to 86.8 per cent in April 2015 for an increase of 0.4 percentage point compared with 86.4 percent in April 2014 as a result of more persons classified as not being in the labour force, an increase of 15,000 persons. The bulk of the increase in areas where there was employment, was in the clerical category, but the growth here seems to have replaced persons in the lowest area: “Elementary Occupations,” that lost 16,800 workers.
Employment rate up with less employed
August 13, 2015 by IC Insider.com
Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy, Feature Stories
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[…] Jamaica’s unemployment rate for June 2015 saw an improvement over the similar period of 2014. According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), 13.1 percent of the labour force were out of work when their Labour Force Survey was carried out, a reduction from the 13.8 percent level in the 2014 period. Over the period, “the unemployment rate for males declined from 9.9 percent to 9.3 percent and for females from a very high 18.4 percent to 17.7 percent”, STATIN stated. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 6,300 or 3.5 percent, moving from 179,300 persons in June 2014 to 173,000 in June this year. A total of 1,147,500 persons were employed at the time of the survey, 23,200 more than the 1,124,300 in June 2014. The Labour Force increased by 16,800 or 1.3 percent over the 1,303,700 recorded in June 2014, to 1,320,500 in 2015.In June 2015, the number of persons who were classified as being Outside the Labour Force fell by 12,700 or1.6 percent to 765,400 from 778,100 in June 2014. The Occupation group, Clerks, saw 9,400 more persons or 9.1 percent being employment, raising the numbers employed from 103,000 in June 2014 to 112,400 at the middle of this year. Increases in employment were also observed in Craft and Related Trades Workers with an increase of 3.4 percent from 136,200 persons in June 2014 to 140,900. Employment in the group, Real Estate, Renting & Business Activities increased by 14,400 persons or 22.4 percent while the group Hotels and Restaurants Services increased by 8.8 percent or 7,300 persons. […]