Wednesday, August 8 2012

click on pic to zoom in

Welcome Madam PM: Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Arnold J Nicholson welcomes Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on her arr...

The country’s unemployment rate fell from 5.9 percent in 2010 to 4.9 percent in 2011. However, the total number of persons in the Labour Force declined from 618,800 to 611,600 persons respectively.

According to a release by the Central Statistical Office, even though unemployment rates for the 15-19 and 20-24 age groups continued to be the highest of all age groups, they both recorded larger decreases in their unemployment rates.

The unemployment rate for the 15- 19 age group decreased by 4.8 percent from 20.1 percent in 2010, while the 2011 unemployment rate for the 20-24 age group also fell by 1.1 percent from 12.4 percent in 2010. The 30-34 and 35-39 age groups also saw a reduction in unemployment from 5.2 percent to 4.2 percent and from 4.1 percent to 3.1 percent respectively, between 2010 and 2011.

In addition, the male unemployment rate fell from 5.2 percent in 2010 to 3.9 percent in 2011, while the rate for females also declined from seven percent to 6.3 percent over the same period.

Most of the broad occupational groups also showed declines in unemployment rates, mainly because of a fall in the Total Labour Force, which was compensated for by decreases in the number of persons unemployed in the industries.

The unemployment rate for Elementary Occupations decreased from 10.4 percent in 2010 to 8.4 percent in 2011; Craft and Related Workers, declined from 6.5 percent in 2010 to 5.2 percent for 2011; and unemployment rates in the Construction industry fell from 12.9 percent in 2010 to 10.4 percent in 2011.

The Community, Personal and Social Services industry recorded a fall in its unemployment rate from 4.1 percent in 2010 to 3.6 percent in 2011. The Wholesale and Retail Trade, Restaurants and Hotels industry also saw its unemployment rate drop from 6.3 percent in 2010 to 5.9 percent in 2011. There was also a 1.5 percentage point drop in the unemployment rate for Clerks from 7.9 percent in 2010.

However, these decreases were moderated by a significant increases in the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services industry group, where its labour force increased from 52,100 persons in 2010 to 56,600 persons in 2011.