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The rate of unemployment for October to December 2016 stood at 9.0 per cent. This was a decrease of 1.2 percentage points from the rate of 10.2 per cent recorded for the same period in 2015.
Statistics derived from the Continuous Household Labour Force Survey produced by the Barbados Statistical Service indicated that the unemployment rate among males stood at 9.3 per cent, and 8.6 per cent among females.
In the review period, the number of persons employed totalled 133,300, of whom 66,900 were males and 66,300 were females. The number of unemployed persons stood at 13,100; some 6,900 males and 6,200 females. In total, the number of persons in the labour force stood at 146,400.
The number of persons not actively looking for work, hence excluded from the labour force, was 74,800. The Labour Force participation rate stood at 66.2 per cent, with participation among males at 69.9 per cent, and 62.8 per cent among females.
In the fourth quarter of 2016, the Wholesale & Retail Trade Sector generated jobs for the largest number of persons, employing 23,800, while the Accommodation & Food Services Sector employed 15,100 persons.
The Construction, Mining & Quarrying Sector generated employment for 14,700 persons and the Public Administration & Defence Sector generated work for 11,100 persons.
Employment in both the Administrative & Support Service Sector and the Manufacturing Sector reached 8,600 persons. The Human Health & Social Work and the Other Groups Sector employed 7,400 and 7,000 persons, respectively.
The Transportation & Storage Sector employed 5,700 persons, while the Activities of Households as Employers Sector and the Education Sector generated employment for 5,800 and 5,600 persons, respectively.
Employment in the Finance & Insurance Sector stood at 5,400 persons, while employment in the Professional, Scientific & Technical Services Sector stood at 4,700 persons. The employment generated in the Other Services Sector was 4,300 persons.
During the review period, 3,500 persons worked in the Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing Sector, while 2,000 were employed in the Electric, Gas, Steam, Water & Air Conditioning Supply Sector.