Jamaica’s Unemployment Rate Decreased to 6.0% in April 2022

• Jamaica’s unemployment rate remained on a downward trajectory, falling to a new record low of 6.0% in April 2022. The rate was 3.0 percentage points lower than the rate on record at the end of the same quarter last year. The male unemployment rate decreased by 2.8 percentage points from 7.5% to 4.7%, while the female unemployment rate declined by 3.3 percentage points from 10.8% to 7.6%.
• In April 2022, there were 1,269,300 employed persons, an increase of 63,300 (5.2%) over April 2021. Females accounted for just over one-half of the increase in employment (33,600 or 53.1%). Female employment increased mainly in the occupation groups ‘Service Workers and Shop and Market Sales Workers’ and ‘Clerks’ while the increase in male employment was primarily in ‘Craft and Related Trades Workers’ and ‘Elementary Occupations’
• The largest increase in employment by occupation group was in ‘Service Workers and Shop and Market Sales Workers’. There were 283,900 persons employed in this group in April 2022, an increase of 18,500 persons (7.0%).
• The largest increase in the employed labour force by industry group was in ‘Real Estate and Other Business Services’. In April 2022, there were 126,300 people employed, 21,300 (20.3%) more persons than at the end of the comparable quarter of the previous year.
• The record low unemployment rate is a lagging economic indicator that likely supported the GDP growth seen in the first quarter of 2022. The economy grew by 6.4% during the quarter when compared to the first quarter of 2021.

(Source: STATIN)