Jamaica's Unemployment rate fell to 7.2% (STATIN 2019 survey)

According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) Jamaica's unemployment rate fell to landmark of 7.2 per cent, based on the October 2019 Labour Force Survey.

Carol Coy, STATIN's Director General, says this is 1.5 percentage points lower than the 8.7 per cent rate for the same period in 2018. She also revealed 0.6 per cent below the 7.8% recorded in the April 2019 survey.

Coy divulged that the total number of persons in jobs as at October rose by 2.4%, compared to the same period in 2018.

She was speaking during STATIN's quarterly media briefing held at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on Friday, January 17, 2020.

The Director General said a breakdown of the data shows that the total number of unemployed persons as at October 2019 stood at 96,700, representing a 16.4 per cent decline over the previous year.

She noted that female unemployment rate decreased by 16,000 people to 53,400, while the total number of unemployed males decreased by 3,000 individuals to 43,300.

The Director General said the data for females represented a 2.6 percentage point decline to 8.6 per cent, while the rate for the males dipped from 6.4 per cent to six per cent.

Additionally, she noted that the unemployment rate for youth aged 14 to 24 fell from 24.9 per cent in October 2018 to 21.1 per cent last year (2019).

She revealed:

“The unemployment rate for male youth decreased by 3.6 percentage points to 18.2 per cent in October 2019 [while] the unemployment rate for female youth declined by 3.9 percentage points to 24.7 per cent.”

Coy said the number of people in jobs as at October rose by 29,200 (2.4 per cent) to 1,248,400, relative to the same period in 2018. The overall labour force increased by 10,200 people to 1,345,100.

She said that overall female employment, which rose by 18,600 people to 565,600, and this was nearly twice that of males, which went up 10,600 to 682,800.

The number of people classified as being outside the labour force, as at October 2019, totalled 741,500, which was 10,800 (1.4 per cent) fewer than the 752,300 recorded the previous year.

Study shows strong link between Youth Unemployment and Crime

A study done by the Commonwealth secretariat has shown Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean region having a grim outlook when it comes to issues of crime and youth employment.  

The study which was obtained by a popular Jamaican newspaper, highlighted that by 2050, Jamaica's homicide rate could jump to as high as 100 persons per 100,000. It further stated that there is a casual attitude towards such issues, and in order for there to be any changes, aspects of development must be treated urgently.

"Under this 'business as usual' scenario, crime and disorder are expected to rise in the region. The research done shows that in Jamaica as well as Trinidad and Tobago, the rate of homicides per 100,000 is projected to rise to alarming rates," the report stated.

IMPROVE COMPETITIVENESS

"This trend, however, is not limited to these countries. By 2050, the smaller states of the Eastern Caribbean are also projected to have rates to those currently being reported in Jamaica.

"Based on the socio-economic projections highlighted the resilience of most Caribbean countries is likely to fall over the period under analysis. Most countries in the Caribbean are expected to experience a reduction in the resilience index, particularly Jamaica, due to rising debt and deteriorating socio-economic conditions, with the added implication of increasing their susceptibility to external shocks, lengthening their recovery period."

The research went on to suggest that priority should be placed on enhancing skills training for youths in order to improve competitiveness.

"Given the trends highlighted for crime in the baseline scenario, the study also considered a policy scenario aimed at enhancing the skills of the young people in the region and providing job opportunities."

Source

10,000 Jamaican Youth to Receive Training and Employment starting this year!

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Approximately 10,000 unattached young people, aged 17 to 29, are expected to benefit from the J$1.6 billion (US$9.3 million) New Employment Opportunities for Youth in Jamaica (NEO-Jamaica) project.

Its implementation aims to broaden training and employment opportunities for marginalised and vulnerable youth. The project is being spearheaded under the Youth Upliftment Through Employment (YUTE) initiative of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), with inputs from several other partners.

These include the ministries of Labour and Social Security, and Science, Energy and Technology.

NEO-Jamaica is being jointly financed by the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), and local stakeholder partners.

The project is slated to run from 2016 to 2018, during which the participants will receive vocational training, and job placement opportunities expected to be provided by approximately 100 partner companies that will also offer internships. It will provide participants with the skills to fill in-demand occupations; build the capacity of key national youth training and service provider organisations; strengthen job placement entities; and align training programmes in educational institutions with labour market requirements.

NEO-Jamaica was launched by Governor-General, Sir Patrick Allen, who is the programme’s patron, during a ceremony at King’s House on June 3.

In welcoming the project, the Governor-General lauded the public-private sector collaboration facilitating it.

“This (is a) pioneering effort in which businesses, Government and civil society join forces to provide resources, knowledge, and capacities in order to implement efficient and sustainable youth employment solutions,” he said.

Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator Ruel Reid, also endorsed the initiative, noting that the public-private sector partnership is essential in addressing youth unemployment. In this regard, he gave an undertaking to “work with the private sector to refashion the Jamaican education system, because we have to recalibrate it to deal with the realities of the 21st century.”

Meanwhile, YUTE Chairman, Joseph Matalon, highlighted a Statistical Institute of Jamaica’s (STATIN) report which noted that youth unemployment stood at 30.3 per cent in October 2015.

“While the negative trajectory has been slowing over the past few years, youth unemployment is still more than double the national unemployment rate. Finding solutions requires that youth be empowered and enabled to make use of their talents and spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, to bring about the changes we need,” he said.

NEO-Jamaica is part of a regional youth empowerment initiative incorporating countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The NEO initiative, which was launched at the Sixth Summit of the Americas in Colombia 2012, aims to assist one million vulnerable youths across these regions by 2022.

Jamaica is the first English-speaking country and the 11th nation to join the programme.

Other local partners are: HEART Trust/NTA and the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ).

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Project-to-help-10-000-young-people-with-training--employment