Unemployment Rate falls as Caymanians maintain the majority of employed persons in the labour force

The recently released Semi-Annual Economic Report 2016 have revealed a positive overview for employment in the Cayman Islands, particularly as it relates to Caymanian participation.

As the country prepares to welcome a new year, this news will be appreciated by many families who may have concerns over employment and the economy.

According to the report which was based on the 2016 Spring Labour Force Survey, the labour force is estimated at 41,825, an increase of 4.2%. Caymanians accounted for the majority (47.1%) of the labour force, followed by Non-Caymanians (42.7%). Permanent Residents with rights to work (PR-WRW) accounted for the remaining 10.2%.

Employed Caymanians accounted for 46.2% or 18,584, Non-Caymanians accounted for 17,675 or 44% and Permanent Residents with RTW accounted for 3,954 or 9.8%

The overall participation rate improved to 83.7%, with the Caymanian labour force participation rate rising from 73.9% to 75.5%. Total employment was estimated at 40,213, 6.1% higher when compared to Spring 2015 or an additional 2,313 persons. Employment of Caymanians (up by 6.7%) recorded the strongest growth in employment followed by Non-Caymanians (up by 6.4%) and PR-WRW with (up by 2.0%).

The unemployment rate fell to 3.9% from 5.6% in Spring 2015 with a total of 1,612 persons being unemployed. Higher employment resulted in the downward movement of the Caymanian unemployment rate, from 8.3% a year ago to 5.6% in Spring 2016 while the population was estimated to have increased by 3.7% to 61,259 when compared to the same period in 2015.

It was also reported that since the fourth quarter of 2014, and consistent with the ongoing economic recovery, work permits increased steadily.

In the second quarter of 2016, the increase was 8.0 percent compared to the comparative period in 2015, reaching 23,411.

[The labour force represents all the members of the population who are able to work]