Local jobless rate falls below 8%
(CNS): The latest figures from the Economics and Statistics Office (ESO) have revealed that the official national unemployment rate fell to 4.7 per cent at the end of 2014. The unemployment rate among Caymanians was estimated to be at 7.9 per cent from a high of 9.4 per cent recorded in 2013. As the debate rages about the accuracy of the jobless statistics held by government, Finance and Economic Development Minister Marco Archer said he expected it to fall further.
Marco Archer, Minister of Finance & Economic Development
“I am pleased that the labour market improved last year, and progress is expected this year towards further reducing the overall unemployment rate,” he said.
The results of the 2014 Labour Force Survey, released by the ESO Tuesday, give a detailed representation of who is working in Cayman under what circumstances, as well as people who are not economically active.
Some dispute the unemployment rate, including North Side MLA Ezzard Miller, who believes the real figure is closer to 11% based on the percentage of locals in the workforce and the fact that no non-Caymanians should be unemployed.
However, the finance minister told CNS that the 1.5% of non-locals who are counted as unemployed would either be the spouses of Caymanians or those with permanent residency with the right to work who are without a job. Those groups, he confirmed, are the only categories of foreign nationals who could be unemployed and still legally resident.
The workforce is currently made up of a fraction more permit holders and foreign workers at present than locals, according to the survey, which found that the 39,582 people in the labour market are made up of 19,689 Caymanians and 19,893 expatriates. But when it comes to current job holders foreign workers are outstripping locals with 19,595 people from overseas employed while 18,127 locals have jobs. More than 50% of the workforce is now from overseas.
The overall increase in the numbers of working people has favoured ex-pats but the survey reveals that while there was a 5.4 percent rise in the number of employed Non-Caymanians there was also a rise of 3.5 percent in the number of employed Caymanians.
While there are slightly more women than men in the entire labour force the jobs are held by almost equally by the sexes but the unemployment rate among women is slated at 5.8% for women and 6.7% for men. Over 8300 people remain outside the labour force which includes students and retirees which is separate from the 1112 people the survey states are unemployed.
Category: Jobs, Local News, Politics
There is a job on island, though not advertised, as a writer of reports, a shredder of old ones and a consultant with absolutely no integrity. Its working for the Minister of Education Tara Rivers. The best tip to get the job is to first ask the Minister what she would like to happen, then do your consultation and ignore your findings, then finally write the report to match her ideology.
Is this the Minister of Education who ignores her own experts, who ignores the findings of consultants she herself has brought in and the very same minister who know #### all about education?
Unemployment is 0%. Anyone who is sober and not a criminal who wants a job can get one whenever they want.
you full of it 8;37 just because you have a job, makes you think you are the expert on getting a job. You are wrong, there are 22 small builders that are out of work for the last 10 months. to two years, They are not criminals and they are sober, we will be registering them very soon, then you can tell me smart ass of the 0% unemployment.
How small are they? Are they called Doc. Dopey, Grumpy . . .
Damn it, I was looking for 22 tall builders. Sorry bud!
It clearly is not as high as the politicians would have us believe but it definitely is not 0% because I am unemployed and so is my father.
Marco if you think we believe this statistics you must be crazy. You are a pencil pusher and not a minister of finance. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
CNS please go on and share that the survey represents 6% of households in Cayman- and a margin of error of 2.5%. This is not acceptable statistic data, it is a political pacifier and Marco you should hang your head in shame as an economist!!
The survey taker came to my expensive waterfront home with 3 cars in the driveway and were shocked when I told the lady from the ESO department that both my husband and I with advanced degrees and willing to take half our salaries cannot even get an interview in our professional fields – nope, only expat hires from recruiters here sorry. I would like to see a real white collar unemployment survey please and woe be the poor community college grads- at least we had a CHANCE 20 years ago, not now!!
so just to confirm, neither of you are employed and yet you are able to afford an expensive waterfront house with 3 cars in the driveway?? hmm smells fishy.
Out of curiosity, what are your advanced degrees in? when you say ‘advanced’ i assume you mean you have a masters or a phd? and one final question, how much experience in your particular field do you have?
So how is it possible to remain in Cayman, as a foreigner, while no longer employed?? And register as unemployed at that??.
Having work is one thing, but no longer working????
Is there any law that is being upheld in this country?, besides the law of stupidity?
Answer to your question: You could either be married to a Caymanian, have permanent residence or be a dependant to someone with PR. And it’s all quite legal.
Interesting. So even all those die hard “go home” locals could not fill the job gap if they wanted too. Those who have found employment, well done. Those that haven’t, (in general, I accept), examine yourselves and ask yourselves why. Just don’t give yourselves the luxury of the answers you want to hear, but look in the light of a competitive world economy.
With comments like that you MUST be new around here or typing all day and night from overseas. Not exactly sure what you are trying to accomplish with your backwards obviousness when locals are well learned and intelligent enough to know the situation is much more complex.
Guessing you are one of the unemployed I referred to. If you really believe what you write is true, there would be no unemployment here at all. It is just a simple truth that all businesses would prefer to employ Caymanians if they could due to WP cost. Now go ask yourself honestly why that is not happening. Your answer is part of the problem, not the solution. You will just have to take my word, I really want to see this solved, but the problem rests with government policies. Until they change, nothing else will.
If the Govt policies or Immigration Boards were not XXXXX we would NOT have this problem. No one is following the law or hiring locals and only Transparency and accountability will solve this. When I see a young local CPAs or IT professionals denied (interviews for WP renewals) my blood boils….these jobs should be enforced! So qualified locals need to wait until the expat decided to move back to work in the field they are trained in?
You cannot fake a CPA exam or MCSE IT certification, so WHY are these jobs going to expats while the locals struggle? = Power, plain and simple – Too many crooked cronies working with recruiters to keep their pet staff and that is wrong and shameful.
I thought the work permit stats of what firm hired WHO had more facts that this ESO made up Marco crap.
Enforced…interesting concept..forcing people to employ is never going to work. Employers have to want to employ you, which means that they must have an expectation that things will get achieved and goals met, instructions followed. Now I have colleagues here who do that and some (Caymanians) recently got promoted and good luck to them, they deserved it. Please give some thought as to why others find it hard to offer jobs..precisely because certain elements feel it should be” enforced” rather than making themselves that thing that the employers want.
Could be that the unemployed has found their way through the airport?
And the airplane door been laying the smack down?
That would also imply Caymanians are heading to the airport. Sometimes you are more valuable to someone else than where you are. It’s quite obvious with the welcoming arms to all the expats and the shunning of the locals. It appears the locals are leaving the rock for better opportunities that they cannot get at home.