July Unemployment Rate Remains at Record-Low 4.5 Per Cent

Jamaica’s unemployment rate for July 2023 was 4.5 per cent, equalling the record-low outturn reported for April.

Director General of the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), Carol Coy, who was addressing the agency’s virtual quarterly press briefing on Wednesday (October 18), informed that the rate was 2.1 percentage points lower than July 2022.

There were 1,315,100 employed persons in July 2023, which is 47,000 more compared to the corresponding period last year.

Ms. Coy noted that the number of unemployed persons for July 2023 was 62,200, representing a decrease of 27,500 or 30.7 per cent, compared with the same period last year.

A further breakdown of the figures shows that the number of unemployed males decreased by 13,000 or 34.6 per cent to 24,600, while the number of unemployed females fell by 14,500 or 27.8 per cent to 37,600.

The number of unemployed youth (aged 14-24) decreased by 9,000 (26 per cent) to 25,600.

STATIN indicates that the largest increase in employment by industry was in ‘Real Estate and Other Business Services’ and ‘Construction’.

The largest increase in the Employed Labour Force by occupation group was in ‘Elementary Occupations’ with 173,800 persons engaged,

This represented an increase of 23,500 persons (15.6 per cent), most notably in males, compared to July last year.

More females were employed as ‘Service Workers and Shop and Market Sales Workers’ and ‘Clerks’.

Employment increased across most occupational groups except for ‘Skilled Agricultural and Fishery Workers’, which declined by 8,500 to 173,400 persons.

Meanwhile the size of the labour force also increased, Ms. Coy indicated.

In July 2023, the number of persons in the Labour Force was 1,377,300, an increase of 19,600 (1.4 per cent) compared to July 2022.

The male labour force increased by 8,400 (1.2 per cent) to 734,400, while the female equivalent rose by 11,200 (1.8 per cent) to 624,900.