Unemployment Rate Declines to 7.8% for April

• The Unemployment Rate for April 2019 was 7.8% which represents a 2.0% fall from the 9.8% recorded for April 2018. Male unemployment rate declined by 1.8% to 5.5% and the female unemployment rate declined by 2.1% to 10.6%.
• The employed labour force increased by 29,900 (2.5%) persons to 1,244,500 for April 2019 relative to 1,214,600 in April 2018.  The number of unemployed persons was 105,400, a decrease of 25,900 persons (or 19.7%) when compared to April 2018.
• There was also a fall in the unemployment rate for youth 14-24 years, which was 19.5% for April 2019, a decrease of 6.4% from 25.9% in April 2018.
• As a result, persons classified as ‘Outside the Labour Force’ dipped to 736,900, 4800 (or 0.7%) less than in April 2018. This decrease was due entirely to the male population; males outside the labor force in declined by 5,500 persons.

 (Source: STATIN)