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The rate of unemployment for 2017 stood at 10.0 percent, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the rate of 9.7 per cent recorded at the end of 2016.
According to data produced by the Barbados Statistical Service, statistics derived from the Continuous Household Labour Force Survey indicated that the unemployment rate among males stood at 9.8 percent and 10.1 percent among females.
In the review period, the number of persons employed totalled 129,900; of whom 66,200 were males and 63,700 were females. The total number of unemployed persons stood at 14,400; some 7,200 males and 7,200 females.
In total, the number of persons in the labour force stood at 144,300. The number of persons not actively looking for work, hence excluded from the labour force, was 76,300 persons. The Labour Force participation rate stood at 65.4 per cent, with participation among males at 69.7 per cent and 61.5 percent among females.
In 2017, the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector generated jobs for the largest number of persons, employing 20,300 persons, while the Accommodation & Food Services sector employed 15,000 persons. The Construction, Mining & Quarrying sector generated employment for 13,300 persons and the Public Administration & Defence sector generated employment for 9,600 persons.
Employment in the Manufacturing sector reached 8,900 persons, while the Other Groups sector (which includes the Information and Communications, Activities of Extraterritorial Organisations & Bodies, Real Estate & Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Industries) and the Education sector reached 8,100 persons and 7,600 persons respectively. The Administrative & Support Service sector and the Transportation & Storage sector employed 7,400 persons and 6,900 persons respectively.
The Human Health & Social Work sector employed 6,600 persons, while the Finance & Insurance sector and the Activities of Households as Employers sector generated employment for 5,500 persons and 4,800 persons respectively. Employment in the Other Services sector stood at 4,600 persons, while employment in the Professional, Scientific & Technical sector stood at 4,200 persons.
During the review period, employment levels in the Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing sector stood at 4,000 persons. The Electric, Gas, Steam, Water & Air Conditioning Supply sector employed 2,900 persons, while 200 persons were employed in a Not Stated sector during 2017.