Employment rose by 2,305 in November when compared to May 2018 and reached about 211,000 persons. On a year-over-year basis, employment grew by 6,830 or 3.4%. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate rose to 10.7%, up from 10.0% in May, as the number of people looking for work increased.

Highlights
Two of the three most populated islands that were surveyed experienced decreases in their unemployment rates, and one experienced an increase. At the time of the survey, the rate in Grand Bahama was 11.9%; and in Abaco 7.7%. On the other hand, New Providence’s unemployment rate increased from 10.1% May to 11.0%. Among the employed labour force, there were more men (110,280) than women (100,280). However, in all the islands surveyed except Grand Bahama, men were fewer in numbers among the unemployed labour force.

Employment gains were driven by private sector employees which increased by 3.8% to 135,135 persons when compared to May. Additionally, the number of self-employed persons stood at 32,475, an increase of 11.9% since May.

Women were more likely than men to be unemployed
Overall, the unemployment rate for women reached 11.3% in November, compared to 10.0% for men. Young women, those aged 15-24 and coreaged women, those aged 25 to 54, were more likely to be unemployed than their male counterparts. By contrast, men aged 55 years and over were slightly more likely to be unemployed when compared with women in their same age cohort.

Young women were more likely to be unemployed than young men
According to The Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) report, youth unemployment in the Caribbean is among the highest in the world, with the unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 reaching 42.7%. Similar patterns persist in the Bahamas, as youth unemployment for women was highest recorded for all age groups. The unemployment rate for young women reached 24.1%, compared with 22.4% for young men, 23.1% for both sexes.

Number of discouraged workers declined
In the six months to November, the number of discouraged workers in the country declined by 6.7%. Notably, the number of discouraged workers fell by 9.1% in New Providence and 9.8% in Grand Bahama. However, the number of discouraged workers in Abaco increased by 7.9 %, partly offsetting the overall decline. Discouraged workers, according to the standard definition of the International Labour Organization (ILO), “are persons without work and available for work, yet were not actively seeking work because they are not hopeful about their prospects of finding work.”