By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Deputy Chief Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
THE Department of Statistics is expected to announce today that the overall unemployment rate is now at 12.7 per cent after a 2.1 per cent decline, with officials pointing to Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival “related activities” accounting for some of the improvement, according to the 2016 Labour Force Survey results obtained by The Tribune.
The overall unemployment rate stood at 14.8 per cent when the previous survey was done in November 2015. The latest survey covers the reference period of April 25 to May 1, 2016.
When officials surveyed New Providence’s job situation, they found a decrease in the unemployment rate, which fell from 15.9 per cent last November to 13.2 per cent in May.
However, the rates of unemployment in Grand Bahama and Abaco increased by 0.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively, to 14.7 per cent and 10.1 per cent.
The report also states that youth unemployment, which covers people 15 to 24-years-old, is higher than any other area. However, this category declined from the rate of 30 per cent recorded in November 2015 to 25.8 per cent in May.
In addition to jobs provided by Junkanoo Carnival, the newest survey results obtained by The Tribune said the 2.1 per cent decrease in the unemployment rate was also influenced by jobs in the manufacturing sector increasing by 26 per cent, among other factors. This sector accounts for four per cent of total employment, the department said.
The results of the survey also indicate that since November 2015, the labour force grew by 1.7 per cent and now totals 215,880 persons.
However, between May 2015 and May 2016 there was a significant increase of 3.3 per cent in the labour force.
In addition, since November, the number of employed people increased by 7,540, while the number of unemployed people fell by 3,855.
The survey said that discouraged workers in the country declined by 10 per cent.
New Providence, Grand Bahama and Abaco experienced declines in the number of discouraged workers of 14 per cent, 16 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.
These persons, according to the standard definition of the International Labour Organization (ILO), adhered to by the Bahamas and most countries including those of the Caribbean, United States and Canada, did not look for work because they believed no jobs were available for them, the report said.
In the employed labour force, there are more men than women, the survey said.
The department has scheduled a press conference for today to release the new job figures.
Comments
newcitizen 8 years, 3 months ago
This is the exact same story from last year where they claimed unemployment went down after taking their survey right during the build up to Carnival. And as everyone predicted, as soon as Carnival was over, the rate shot right back up to where is was, and we will see that again with the numbers for next November.
A couple weeks of part time work is all that is shown by this report.
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 3 months ago
But didn't statistics explain last year that the rise in unemployment after carnival was due to the fact that most of the people employed already had other jobs?
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 3 months ago
I misspoke! In their explanation for explaining why the unemployment figures went up after carnival, statistics attempted to explain away any possible link to carnival by saying that most people employed by carnival had another job. Implication being that as they were employed independent of carnival, these carnival worker dismissals couldn't be the cause of the unemployment rise. It stands to reason that if they're not the cause of the unemployment rise post carnival, they can't be the cause of the unemployment decrease pre or during carnival
sheeprunner12 8 years, 3 months ago
These stats are bogus .......... more Bahamians are either unemployed or underemployed than fully engaged in full-time employment ...... temporary/contractual minimum wage jobs are nothing to use to create job stats
licks2 8 years, 3 months ago
I lost for real. . .joblessness down. . .and carnival pushed it down? But een carnival over in three days. . .so the assumption is that after carnival the count goes back up aye? Lol!
John 8 years, 3 months ago
This is so much pure , political bull$shit no use even trying to wipe up after the exercise. How can the Department o Statistics prostitute itself in this fashion for the second year counting? The cold, hard, undeniable facts are that this government was unable to put even a two percentage dent in the unemployment numbers over a 4 2 year period. In fact real unemployment may have increased under this government alone with the number of discouraged workers and the number of other workers who are no longer looking for work because of other reason. Even if you take the number of workers employed by carnival and prorate their term of employment over a 12 month period it would not affect the unemployment rate by more than a percentage point.
Islandboy242242 8 years, 3 months ago
What a joke. How can a temporary festival's jobs go toward employment figures...
viewersmatters 8 years, 3 months ago
Am coming to the assumption that government really believe in the people that we are really no doubt D averages Bahamian puppets!
bogart 8 years, 3 months ago
BoB has two vacancies for Two Directors
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2016/jul…
asiseeit 8 years, 3 months ago
Lier, Lier, pants on fire! You people have no shame, all for naught, as we know you are full of shit!
TalRussell 8 years, 3 months ago
Comrades! The crafty game of math plagiarizing Karneval 2016. Then again, hardly an indictable 'fudging' of the figurers offense, considering it uses computations for an increase in paychecks that were lifted right from the mathland fantasy world bookkeeping of Karneval 2016's - yet to be audited books, or if they were indeed audited, just not shared with the taxpaying public?
hallmark 8 years, 3 months ago
@TalRussell. How is it that they are able to establish employment figures from the Carnival, but the public has not been presented with any audited reports on either of the carnivals as yet? This is very strange.
TalRussell 8 years, 3 months ago
Comrade Hallmark it's permissible only when a Government in waiting's political party allows it to happen. Maybe try asking the same question to the Butlerism Six-pack of the Red Movement's MP's? I bet you have no clue of any angry expressed by the six-pack on behalf of taxpayers, for the government's refusal to publicly release the audited financial statements on the $26 million spent on the 2015/2016 Kanaval's?
SP 8 years, 3 months ago
........... Is anybody really stupid enough to believe anything from this government? ............
Starting with "We believe in Bahamians" and "Bahamians first", we've been fed a steady diet of lies and deceptions?
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