By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The recent 52 percent increase in the number of jobless Bahamians is not evidence that the economy is struggling, a Cabinet minister asserted yesterday.

Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, speaking at the Office of the Prime Minister’s weekly media briefing instead blamed the increase in the unemployment numbers and rate over the seven months to the 2025 first quarter on temporary factors such as survey timing and skills mismatch.

He added that the Government has reviewed the unemployment report released by the Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI), and said: “We saw the release. We did a bit of a deep dive into it to see what contributed to it.

“And there was some mention of certain factors acting together;, not one particular thing, but several factors, including timing and including some closures on some islands of some businesses, and the timing of when the report was done.

“We studied it, and we try to get a better appreciation of what caused the increase. And so that way, we are able to direct our policy response. One comment that came out of it was a mismatch in skills training and what the demands are in the job market.”

Mr Halkitis pointed to government initiatives aimed at upskilling the workforce, such as the Digi Learn programme and the National Apprenticeship Programme, which are designed to increase employability and address the skills gaps shown in the BNSI’s findings.

“Two days after [the BNSI report] came out, we were launching a Digi Learn programme, which is designed to help people improve their skills, where the Government of The Bahamas is providing for its citizens to be able to go and do free courses and things like Excel, Word, just an example, a whole slew of other courses to improve their marketability and their skill level,” said Mr Halkitis.

“You see the continued investment in the National Training Agency and the National Apprenticeship Programme.” He maintained that the labour market continues to show positive momentum and job creation, adding that the increase in unemployment reflects a “temporary uptick” rather than structural economic weakness.

“You look at the figure, go and try and get a deep dive, look behind it, to see what the elements are that have caused this, what we think is a temporary uptick. That way you can drive your policy response. In no way is it any indication, in my mind, that the economy is in trouble,” said Mr Halkitis.

He highlighted over 400 jobs listed on the Ministry of Labour’s online portal, and referenced a recent job fair by a hospitality developer seeking to fill a similar number of positions as evidence of continued demand for labour.

“The Minister of Labour said, on their portal alone, are about 400 jobs that are waiting to be filled. One hospitality company had, about three weeks ago, a job fair where they were looking for 400 spaces. And so, the economy is generating demand for jobs. We have to make sure that our people are equipped to be able to fill them,” Mr Halkitis said.