According to Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr DeLisle Worrell, unemployment has reached about 11 per cent. He said the number of people seeking jobs for as long as a year or more was now “quite high”, and he blamed the recession.
At the end of June 2010, the rate of joblessness stood at just about 10.7 per cent.
“What is more,” Worrell added, “many of those still in jobs have suffered reduced hours, poor sales and reduced income. The overall result is that family incomes have typically not kept up with inflation in the past two years. And, for many families, earnings are substantially lower than they were before the recession.”
Feature address The Governor was at the time delivering the feature address at the Lions Club of Christ Church West 18th anniversary charter dinner and awards at the Golden Sands Hotel Saturday evening.
Worrell told an audience of mostly seniors that since the recession, some pensioners had had to “come out of retirement” and take up unskilled jobs.
He advised that now was the time to make a medium-term adjustment plan with the help of a financial advisor “rather than to attempt to dig yourself out of a hole in a hurry”.
The economist said there were signs the recession might come to an end, but when it was difficult to say.
During the event a number of the Lions were awarded for their years of service to the organisation.
