Barbados’ unemployment rate stood at 9.7 per cent in 2016, a decrease of 1.6 percentage points from the 11.3 per cent recorded at the end of 2015.
This is according to official figures from the Barbados Statistical Service’s Continuous Household Labour Force Survey which note that the the unemployment rate among males stood at 9.3 per cent and 10.1 per cent among females.
In the review period, the number of persons employed totalled 132,900, of whom 67,500 were males and 65,400 were females. The unemployed numbered 14,300,, while the number of persons in the labour force stood at 147,200. T
According to the figures, the number of persons not actively looking for work was 74,000.
In 2016, the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector generated jobs for the largest number of persons, employing 22,400, while 16,400 worked in the Accommodation & Food Services sector.
The Construction, Mining & Quarrying sector generated employment for 14,000 persons and the Public Administration & Defence Sector generated work for 9,700 persons. Employment in the Manufacturing sector reached 9,400 persons and the Other Groups Sector reached 8,300 persons. The Administrative & Support Service Sector and the Transportation & Storage Sector employed 7,600 and 6,700 persons, respectively.
The Human Health & Social Work sector employed 6,600 persons, while the Education sector and the Finance & Insurance sector generated employment for 6,100 and 5,800 persons, respectively.
