The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest yesterday called on the Christie administration to come clean with the Bahamian people over the Department of Statistics’ most recent Labour Force Survey, which placed the nation’s unemployment rate at 11.6 per cent.

Mr Turnquest, in an email to The Tribune, called the figures released on Wednesday “nonsense,” and accused the government of “statistical gymnastics”.

The East Grand Bahama MP said the proclamation that the unemployment rate has declined by 1.1 per cent since May, is nothing short of “misleading.”

The reference period for the latest survey was October 24-30, shortly after Hurricane Matthew hit parts of the Bahamas.

He accused the government of again attaching “extraordinary temporary employment to an overall statistic,” a point he hammered the Christie administration on in the wake of its May figures.

“It is disingenuous and downright wrong to do so as it plays on the emotions of Bahamians who know the difference and are becoming increasingly frustrated,” he told The Tribune.

“The facts are very clear, even without the official statistics, the unemployment levels of this country have deteriorated even before the hurricanes, however, since that time we have shed jobs like winter coats in summer.

“Grand Bahama’s economy is in shambles with multiple lay-offs in various sectors and delayed reopening in various segments of the tourism plant. Grand Celebration (cruise) has not returned, where are these jobs the government is speaking about?

“It is high-time the government . . . face the reality of our situation rather than putting our heads in the sand and pretending to be surprised by the poor results that have resulted in a significant and unprecedented downgrade of our sovereign credit risk.

“The FNM calls on the government to compare apples to apples in these statistical presentations and to ensure that the distinction between temporary/seasonal and permanent jobs is segregated so that employers and investors have legitimate objective data from which to make decisions.”

DOS officials pinned the decline on employment in the construction sector after Hurricane Matthew’s devastating impact.

The department concluded that more than 1,385 people were employed directly because of the storm.

The construction industry experienced the largest employment growth of all the sectors, a growth rate of 16 per cent.

However, officials were unable to assess the quality of the jobs.

Officials also credited the Christie administration’s 52-week job programme as a contributor to the decline, despite not knowing how many people had been employed through the programme.

The release of the survey’s results came a day after rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the country’s credit rating to “junk” status, a first for the country.

In July, DOS reported a decrease in the unemployment rate, which fell from 14.8 per cent last November to 12.7 per cent.

At that time, officials pointed to Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival “related activities” as a catalyst for that decline.

In response to that survey, Mr Turnquest urged DOS officials to adjust the line of questioning used in its biannual unemployment survey “accordingly,” claiming the survey does not differentiate between temporary and long-term employment status.