By Douglas McIntosh
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – Jamaica’s unemployment rate fell to a new record low of 6.2 percent in January 2022. This, according to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) Labour Force Survey for the month, is a 0.9 percentage point lower than the figure recorded in October 2021.
It is also 2.6 percentage points below the out-turn for the January 2021 Survey, director-general, Carol Coy, said, speaking during STATIN’s digital quarterly media briefing, on Thursday, April 21.
Coy informed that the male unemployment rate decreased from 7.6 percent to 4.8 percent, while the female equivalent declined by 2.5 percentage points to 7.9 percent.
She also advised that the youth unemployment rate fell by 5.1 percentage points to 17.7 percent for the review period, relative to January 2021.
The director-general pointed out that the male and female out-turns decreased by approximately five per cent, with the latter recording the larger decline.
“Male youth unemployment was 14.5 percent, while for the females, it was 21.8 percent,” she indicated.
Meanwhile, the overall number of individuals employed in January 2022 rose by 4.8 percent or 57,800 persons to 1,257,100, compared to the corresponding period last year.
Coy said females recorded the larger increase – 5.5 percent – compared to 4.3 percent for their male counterparts.
She indicated that the overall labour force climbed by 24,800 persons, or 1.9 percent, to 1,340,600 in January.
“There was a larger increase of females in the labour force. While the male labour force increased by 9,200 persons to 721,400, the female labour force increased by 15,600 persons to 619,200. The increase in females represented 62.9 per cent of the total increase,” Coy pointed out.
Meanwhile, the number of persons classified as being outside the labour force (neither employed nor unemployed) stood at 755,600 in January.
“Males outside the labour force declined by 8,000, while females declined by 14,400,”Coy told journalists.
