By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE lay offs of more than 2,000 Baha Mar employees in October contributed to a 2.8 per cent increase in the country’s unemployment rate pushing the national figure to 14.8 per cent, officials from the Department of Statistics said yesterday.

According to the latest Labour Force Survey, both New Providence and Grand Bahama experienced increases in their unemployment rates, which now stand at 15.9 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively.

Abaco’s unemployment rate decreased, however, from the 12 per cent recorded in May to 9.7 per cent for November, according to the survey.

Leona Wilson, acting director at the Department of Statistics, said the rise in overall unemployment was “definitely” a by-product of the Baha Mar layoffs, which occurred on October 23.

The layoffs, a result of the financial insolvency of the stalled $3.5b Cable Beach resort, affected approximately 1,440 non-active employees and approximately 580 active employees at Baha Mar, including management and line staff.

The survey provides information on the labour force as it existed during the period October 26 to November 1, 2015.

“We feel that Baha Mar did contribute to (the unemployment rate),” Ms Wilson said at a press conference yesterday. “If you look at what our reference period was, that was right after most of the persons were let go from Baha Mar. So that definitely was a contributing factor.”

She added: “All of us hope that Baha Mar would revive the economy, so hopefully the sooner that can open that would hopefully contribute to improving the economy, not only in unemployment but overall in terms of the (gross domestic product) and everything.”

Youth

Officials also said that the youth unemployment rate now stands at 30 per cent, nearly 5 per cent more than the 25.3 per cent recorded in May’s survey. The survey noted that young people between the ages of 15 to 24 continue to face a considerably higher rate of unemployment than any other group.

“When we did the previous one, the survey was held before graduation,” statistician Cypreanna Winters said. “And so we have to take into account all of the (graduates) coming into the labour force that contributed to the growth in the (youth) unemployment rate.”

Officials also said that there was a “moderate” 1.6 per cent growth in the labour force since the last survey conducted in May, from 208,895 to 212,195.

Discouraged workers in the country declined by 30 per cent over the six-month period, according to officials. New Providence and Grand Bahama experienced a decline in the number of discouraged workers, at 40 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.

A 7 per cent decline in the number of discouraged workers were also noted in Abaco, officials said.

Discouraged workers are persons who are not considered unemployed as they did not meet the three criteria of unemployment: seeking work; willing to work able to work.

“Given the fact that we had all these contributing factors, it’s in line with what we expected,” Ms Wilson concluded. “It doesn’t seem too unrealistic.”

Additionally, the survey results showed that while the number of persons in both the labour force and employed labour force was almost equally distributed by sex, men outnumbered women in both groups.

In Grand Bahama however, women outnumbered men in all categories. In Abaco, men outnumbered women in both the labour force and employed labour force but were fewer in numbers among the unemployed, officials said.

When the last survey was conducted during the end of April to early May, officials saw a 3.7 per cent decrease in unemployment, from 15.7 per cent to 12 per cent. However, this decrease was partly due to temporary employment brought on by Junkanoo Carnival and other seasonal events.

Officials said the employment opportunities provided by the “preparatory work” needed for Junkanoo Carnival had a positive impact on the unemployment rate at the time. The same was likely true for the IAAF World Relays in May, as well as people hired in the lead up to Baha Mar’s then anticipated spring grand opening, officials said.