Unemployment rate in Barbados drops

Barbados’ unemployment rate stood at 9.7 percent in 2016, a decrease of 1.6 percentage points from the 11.3 percent recorded at the end of 2015, according to official figures.

The Barbados Statistical Service’s Continuous Household Labor Force Survey noted that the unemployment rate among males stood at 9.3 percent and 10.1 percent among females.

In the review period, the number of people employed totaled 132,900, of whom 67,500 were males and 65,400 were females. The unemployed numbered 14,300, while the number of persons in the labor force stood at 147,200.

According to the figures, the number of people not actively looking for work was 74,000. In 2016, the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector generated jobs for the largest number of people, employing 22,400, while 16,400 worked in the Accommodation & Food Services sector.

The Construction, Mining & Quarrying sector generated employment for 14,000 people and the Public Administration & Defence Sector generated work for 9,700 people.
Employment in the Manufacturing sector reached 9,400 people and the Other Groups Sector reached 8,300 people. The Administrative & Support Service Sector and the Transportation & Storage Sector employed 7,600 and 6,700 people, respectively.

The Human Health & Social Work sector employed 6,600 people, while the Education sector and the Finance & Insurance sector generated employment for 6,100 and 5,800 persons, respectively, according to the figures released. -(CMC)