Unemployment drops to 7.8 per cent

July 18, 2019
Carol Coy
Carol Coy

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is reporting further reduction in the unemployment rate to a new record low of 7.8 per cent.

As contained in STATIN's April 2019 Labour Force Survey, the figure is two percentage points lower than the 9.8 per cent recorded for the corresponding period last year, and 0.2 per cent lower than the out-turn for January.

Director General, Carol Coy, said the number of unemployed persons as at April fell by 25,900 or 19.7 per cent to 105,900, relative to 2018.

She was speaking at STATIN's quarterly briefing at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday.

Coy said that the male unemployment rate declined by 1.8 percentage points to 5.5 per cent, while the corresponding figure for females fell by 2.1 percentage points to 10.6 per cent.

"The number of unemployed males decreased by 13,000 to 39,900 in April 2019. Over the same period, the number of unemployed females was 65,600; this was a decline of 12,900," the Director General outlined.

Additionally, she said the unemployment rate for youth, aged 14 to 24, fell by 6.4 percentage points from 25.9 per cent in April 2018, to 19.5 per cent this year

"The unemployment rate for male youth declined by 6.4 percentage points to 14.5 per cent, while the rate for female youth declined by 6.6 percentage points to 25.8 per cent," Coy told journalists.

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