Statin — Page 8

Unemployment jumps to 15.4%

November 15, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Jamaica’s unemployment rate, which has been on the increase since 2008, jumped to 15.4% for July 2013 compared to 13.1% in July 2012 as more workers came into the workforce. For the same period, the unemployment rate for males was 11.7% compared to 19.9% for females. The Employed Labour Force for July 2013 was 1,108,100, which was 3,100 less than the 1,111,200 recorded in July 2012 but was slightly above the numbers recorded in March this year. For males, it decreased marginally by 600 (0.1%) to 632,100 and for females by 2,500 (0.5%) to 476,000 for the period.

In March this year, the number of employed persons was 1,107,400 compared to 1,098,700 recorded in March 2012 and 1,093,200 in December last year.

The number of unemployed persons in July 2013 was 201,600. This was an increase of 34,200 (20.4%) when compared with 167,400 in July 2012. The number of unemployed males increased by 13,900 (19.9%) and the number of females by 20,300 (20.8%) for the same period.

The July 2013 Labour Force Survey, was conducted by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) and covered the week of June 23-29.

Labour Force | In July 2013, the number of persons in the Labour Force was 1,309,700, which was 31,200 (2.4%) higher than the 1,278,500 recorded in July 2012. The male labour force increased by 13,400 (1.9%) from 702,300 in July 2012 to 715,700 in July 2013, and the female labour force increased by 17,800 (3.1%) moving from 576,200 to 594,000 in the same period.

The Employment Rate for July 2013 was 84.6%, which was a 2.3 percentage point decline from the 86.9% in July 2012. The Employment Rate declined for both males and females over the period. For males, it declined by 1.8 percentage points, moving from 90.1% to 88.3%, and for females it declined by 2.9 percentage points, from 83% to 80.1% over the same period.

Outsiders | The number of persons who were classified as Outside the Labour Force in July 2013 was 768,000. This represents a decrease of 25,500 (3.2%) when compared to 793,500 in July 2012. In the same period, the number of males Outside the Labour Force declined by 10,400 (3.3%) moving from 314,400 to 304,000 and the females by 15,100 (3.2%) moving from 479,100 to 464,000 over the period.

Where they work | The Occupation group ‘Clerks’ had an increase in employment of 5,600 (5.8%) persons, moving from 96,300 in July 2012 to 101,900 in July 2013. The group ‘Craft and Related Trade Workers’ had the largest decline for the period, moving from 149,600 to 141,800 in July 2013 resulting in a decline of 7,800 (5.2%) persons.

The largest increase in employment occurred in the industry group ‘Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities’ where the number of persons employed increased by 11,300 (19.3%). Similar increases were experienced in the group ‘Health and Social Work’ where it increased by 4,300 (14.3%) persons. During the same period, the industry group ‘Manufacturing’ declined by 8,700 (11.3%) persons followed by ‘Wholesale & Retail, Repair of Motor Vehicle & Equipment’ which declined by 5,200 (2.4%) persons.

Unemployment rates among youths aged 14-24 years was 38.3% for July 2013. This was an increase of 6.6 percentage points when compared with 31.7% in July 2012. The male unemployment rate for youths was 29.5% compared to 50.3% for females.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Economy, Employment, GOJ, Statin

Producers inflation moderate

November 5, 2013 by IC Insider.com

As reported by Statin, the Producer Price Index for the Mining & Quarrying industry increased by 0.7 per cent for September. This resulted mainly from the depreciation of the Jamaican dollar via-a-vis the American Dollar.

The Manufacturing industry recorded an advance in producer prices of 0.5 per cent. Contributing significantly to this increase was the upward movement in the index for the major group ‘Food, Beverages & Tobacco’ up by 0.2 per cent and ‘Refined Petroleum Products’ by 1.9 per cent. However, these movements were tempered by the major group ‘Chemicals & Chemical Products’ which reflected a decline of 0.2 per cent in its index for the period under review.

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The point to point period, September 2012 to September 2013 recorded an increase of 14.0 per cent in the index for the Mining & Quarrying industry. For the same period, the Manufacturing industry’s index increased by 8.0 per cent. For the fiscal year to date, April 2013 to September 2013, showed that the index for Mining & Quarrying industry advanced by 2.8 per cent, while the Manufacturing industry recorded an increase of 2.0 per cent.

A comparison of the third quarter 2013 over the second quarter of 2013 for the Mining & Quarrying and the Manufacturing industry showed both industries increasing by 2.0 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.

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Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Economy, GOJ, Statin

Jamaica’s inflation jumps

October 17, 2013 by IC Insider.com

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) is reporting a big jump in inflation in the month of September resulting primarily from hike in bus and taxi fares along with electricity cost.

“Inflation measured by the All Jamaica ‘All Divisions’ Consumer Price Index, increased by 2.8 percent for September 2013, the highest monthly movement experienced since July 2008” Statin said. This movement was influenced significantly by the increase in bus and taxi fares, which resulted in the ‘Transport’ division recording the highest movement for the month, 17.1 percent. Also contributing to the upward inflation rate was the 3.6 percent increase in the index for the ‘Education’ division caused by the rise in the cost of tuition fees for the new school year additionally, the upward movement in electricity cost increased the index for the ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Division by 3.3 percent.

The calendar year–to-date inflation rose by 7.7 percent up from 4.8 percent in August. The point-to-point movement was 10.4 percent. All other divisions that make up the All Jamaica index recorded increases. ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages by 0.6 percent, ‘Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco’ 0.3 percent, ‘Clothing and Footwear,’ 0.7 percent, ‘Furnishings Household Equipment’ and Routine Household Maintenance’, 0.3 percent, ‘Health’, 0.2 percent, ‘Recreation and Culture’, 0.3 percent, ‘Restaurants and Accommodation Services’ 0.2 percent, and ‘Miscellaneous Goods and Services’ up by 0.6 percent. There was no movement recorded for ‘Communication’.

The Index advanced in all three regions: Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area (GKMA), 2.5 percent, Other Urban Centres (OUC), 2.7 percent and rural areas by, 3.1 percent.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Economy, Statin

Producer prices tamed in August

October 4, 2013 by IC Insider.com

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Data out from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) indicates that the inflationary pressures in the goods producing sector has been moderate during August this year.

According to the government body charged with responsibility to collect and collate data on the country, the Producer Price Index for the Mining & Quarrying industry increased by 0.2 percent for August. This was due to the upward movement of 0.2 percent in the index for the major group ‘Bauxite Mining & Alumina Processing’. Producer prices for the Manufacturing industry increased by 0.4 percent the result of the movement in the major groups, ‘Food, Beverages & Tobacco’ and ‘Refined Petroleum Products’ that showed increases of 0.2 percent and 3.0 percent respectively. However the index for the major groups ‘Chemicals and Chemical Products’ showed a decline of 5.0 percent.

The point to point period, August 2012 to August 2013 showed movement in the index for the Mining & Quarrying industry of 13.6 percent, a decline of 0.3 percentage point below the 13.9 percent recorded for the previous period. Additionally the point to point for Manufacturing recorded an increase of 8.2 percent. This increase resulted from advances of 8.0 percent and 9.7 percent for the two most influential major groups namely ‘Food, Beverages & Tobacco’ and ‘Refined Petroleum Products’.

For April 2013 to August 2013, the index for Mining & Quarrying industry advanced by 2.1 percent, while the Manufacturing industry increased by 1.5 percent for the corresponding period.

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Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Economy, Statin

More employed in March but . . .

August 20, 2013 by IC Insider.com

More Jamaicans were employed in March this year than for the same period in 2012 as 8,700 persons found employment bringing the number of employed persons to 1,107,400 as against 1,098,700 recorded in March 2012 and 1,093,200 in December last year. For males, it increased by 6,300 (1.0 percent) to 630,300 and for females by 2,400 (0.5 percent) to 477,100 for the period. Unfortunately, the number of increased employed could not help in the reduction of the unemployed as those rose 30,200 raising the unemployed rate to 16.3 percent, the worse rate since 1997 when the rate was 16.5 percent.

The Employment Rate for March 2013 was 83.7 percent, which was a 1.9 percentage point decline from the 85.6 percent in March 2012. The Employment Rate declined for both males and females over the period. For males, it declined by 1.1 percentage points, moving from 89.1 percent to 88.0 percent and for females it declined by 2.7 percentage points, moving from 81.4 percent to 78.7 percent over the same period.

The Occupation group ‘Clerks’ had the largest increase (6.0 percent) in the number of persons employed moving from 95,200 in March 2012 to 100,900 in March 2013. The group ‘Plant and Machine Operators’ and ‘Assemblers’ had the largest decline (4,300 persons) moving from 62,000 to 57,700 during the same period.

The industry group ‘Wholesale & Retail, Repair of Motor Vehicle & Equipment’ increased by 17,000 (7.8 percent) moving from 217,100 in March 2012 to 234,100 in March 2013. During the same period employment in ‘Manufacturing’ declined by 7,200 persons (9.2 percent).

Labour force | In March 2013, the number of persons in the Labour Force was 1,322,500, which was 38,900 (3.0 percent) higher than the 1,283,600 recorded in March 2012. The male labour force increased by 15,600 (2.2 percent), from 700,500 in March 2012 to 716,100 in March 2013, and the female labour force increased by 23,300 (4.0 percent) moving from 583,100 to 606,400 in the same period.

The number of persons who were classified as ‘Outside the Labour Force’ in March 2013 declined by 33,300 a 4.2 percent decrease to reach 753,700, when compared to 787,000 in March 2012. The number of males ‘Outside the Labour Force’ declined by 12,900 (4.3 percent) from 315,600 and the females by 20,400 (4.5 percent) from 471,400 over the period.

Unemployed | The number of Unemployed persons in March 2013 was 215,100, an increase of 30,200 (16.3 percent) when compared with 184,900 in March 2012. The number of unemployed males increased by 9,500 (12.4 percent) and the number of females by 20,700 (19.1 percent) for the same period.

The Unemployment Rate for March 2013 was 16.3 percent compared to 14.4 percent in March 2012. For the same period, the unemployment rate for males was 12.0 percent compared to 21.3 percent for females.

Youth unemployment a big problem | Unemployment rates among youths aged 14-24 years was 38.5 percent for March 2013. This was an increase of 4.1 percentage points when compared with 34.4 percent in March 2012. The male unemployment rate for youths was 30.1 percent compared to 27 percent for females.

The March 2013 Labour Force Survey was conducted by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). The reference week for this survey was March 25-31, 2013. The 2011 Population Census distribution was used to derive all the estimates for the survey.

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Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Economy, GOJ, Statin

Inflation up in May

June 19, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Inflation for May as measured by the All Jamaica ‘All Divisions’ Consumer Price Index increased by 0.5 percent, a 0.1 percentage point increase over the 0.4 percent increase recorded for April 2013, this according to a release from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin).

The CPI movement was influenced by a 0.8 percent increase in prices for ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’, the heaviest weighted division in the computation of the Index. The main contributor to the division’s inflation was an increase of 1.3 percent in the index for ‘Vegetables and Starchy Foods’. ‘Transport’, the second heaviest weighted division, recorded a decline, moving down by 0.2 percent. This was primarily because of lower prices for ‘Fuels and Lubricants for Personal Transport Equipment’, particularly petrol, Statin said. The third heaviest weighted division of the CPI, ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’, recorded an increase of 0.7 percent. The upward movement in the index for May 2013 resulted in a calendar year-to-date movement of 3.7 percent.

The other divisions that recorded increases were ‘Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco’ 0.7 percent, ‘Clothing and Footwear’ 0.3 percent, ‘Furnishings Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance’ 0.6 percent, ‘Health’ 0.3 percent, ‘Recreation and Culture’ 0.7 percent, ‘Restaurants and Accommodation Services’ 0.3 percent, and ‘Miscellaneous Goods and Services’ 0.4 percent. No movement was recorded for ‘Education and ‘Communication’.

All three regions covered by the survey recorded increases for the period; Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area (GKMA) 0.6 percent, Other Urban Centres (OUC) 0.8 percent and Rural Areas 0.4 percent.