Jamaican economy continues to decline; unemployment goes up
/ Our Today
administrator
COVID- 19 continues to decimate the Jamaican economy and the official figures from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) confirm that fact.
During a press conference held by STATIN Director General Carol Coy, data from the Labour Force Survey revealed 137,000 persons were unemployed between October 2019 and October 2020, equating to an 11 per unemployment figure.
Of particular concern is the number of women now out of work, which has risen by 44.5 per cent to 77,100 up to October 2020. This pushes the female unemployment rate to 13 per cent.
It’s a tough time for Jamaica’s youth with 27 per cent of those between 14 and 24 years old out of work, almost seven per cent higher than the previous year.
Taking a broader look at the Jamaican economy, STATIN reveals that it fell by 10.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019.
This was due to declines in both the services and goods producing industries of 13 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively. The economy was impacted by the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus.
All industries within the services sector fell with the exception of the providers of government services. The negative impact of the virus was felt more severely in the hotels and restaurants, transport and communications sectors.
Despite heightened levels of optimism from tourism officials, there was an 81.8 per cent decline in stopover arrivals with no cruise passengers coming into the country during the third quarter
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