The unemployed continue to rise, with as many as 800 more Barbadians logged jobless between the first quarter of 2009 and the end of March this year.
The total number – as at March – stands 15 000 plus. The rise in unemployment was reported by the Research and Planning Unit of the Economic Affairs Division in the Ministry of Economic Affairs in a release yesterday.
The unit said the information was based on statistics derived from the Continuous Household Labour Force Survey, covering the period January to March.
“During this period, the total number of unemployed persons was 15 200 – some 800 persons more than in the corresponding quarter of 2009,” it reported.
The figures indicate that the rate of unemployment for the first quarter of 2010 stood at 10.6 per cent. This represents an increase of 0.5 percentage points above the rate of 10.1 per cent recorded during the first quarter of 2009.
Fewer men and women are now employed, compared to the first quarter of 2009. In the first quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate among males stood at 10.5 per cent, 0.3 percentage points above the rate of 10.2 per cent for the same quarter of 2009.
Over the same period, the rate of unemployment among females rose to 10.7 per cent, representing an increase of 0.7 percentage points when compared with the rate of 10.0 per cent for the corresponding period in 2009. In the first quarter of 2010, wholesale and retail trade provided jobs for the largest number of people, employing 19 000.
Construction, mining and quarrying, and accommodation and food services each employed 12 900 people. The manufacturing sector provided employment for 10 000 people and the education sector employed 8 700.
There were 8 200 people employed in both the administrative and support services, and the finance and insurance sectors. The human health and social work sector provided jobs for 7 500 people.
The transportation and storage sector employed 7 000 people, while the public administration and defence sector accounted for 6 500 jobs.
There were 3 800 people employed in the professional, scientific and technical services sector, while the electricity, gas, steam, water and air conditioning supply sector employed 3 500. Other groups, including the information and communication, activities of extraterritorial organisations, arts, and entertainment and recreation sectors provided jobs for 5 300 people. (TY)
