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Financial News

Aug 2016 Financial News

Unemployment rate creeps up

Aug 30, 2016

The Central Statistical Office (CSO) reported yesterday that the overall unemployment rate had increased from 3.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2015 to 3.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2016, based on data collected in the Continuous Sample Survey of Population conducted during the period January to March 2016. 

In its statement, the CSO said: “From a gender perspective, the unemployment rate among males increased from 3.4 per cent to 3.7 per cent. Additionally, females increased from 3.6 per cent to 3.8 per cent during the same period.”

The CSO data comes against the backdrop of the decision by ArcelorMittal in March to close its doors, resulting in about 700 workers being sent home. In February, Centrica terminated the services of 200 workers and in January, Repsol sent home 11 workers. As well, other companies across varying sectors of the country sent home workers as the contraction in T&T’s economy tore into the bottom line of many companies. 

With the total labour force amounting to 641,900 people at the end of March 2016, the CSO said the survey data showed a decrease of 3,800 in the number of people with jobs.

“In terms of the unemployment situation, the data reflected an increase of 1,800 or 8.1 per cent in the number of unemployed persons in Trinidad and Tobago between the fourth quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016,” according to the CSO.

The survey also showed, according to the CSO: “In comparison to the previous quarter, an analysis of persons with jobs by industry revealed that decreases were identified in:

• Transport, storage and communication 6,500 or 13.3 per cent;

• Other manufacturing (excluding sugar and oil) 5,000 or 9.8 per cent;

• Financing, insurance, real estate and business services 3,100 or 5.0 per cent; and 

• Construction 2,100 or 2.4 per cent. 

However, the CSO said that increases were seen in “community, social and personal services” 5,800 or 2.8 per cent, “wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels” 2,900 or 2.5 per cent and “other agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing” 2,200 or 11.2 per cent. 

Looking further into the statistics, the amount of citizens educated in the first quarter of 2016 totalled 2698 compared to the first quarter of 2015 where there were 2670 educated. 

President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association, Gregory Aboud said even though the country is in a recession, he did not believe that the situation is at a chronic stage. 

In a telephone interview with the T&T Guardian, Aboud said: “Given the circumstances which the Government is constrained by and given the circumstances of the structure of this economy, it is not a worst case scenario. This is a very minimal movement of overall employment data.” 

Comparing T&T’s economy with other economies, Aboud said the data is quite “positive and encouraging.” The question of whether T&T can sustain the declining employment levels is left to be determined, he said, adding that the T&T economy is still strong. 

“The T&T economy has tremendous potential in tourism particularly in Tobago, but the people of Tobago need to unclog some of the bottlenecks there, chief among them is their attitude toward tourism.”

And as though calling for diversification efforts to be stepped up, Aboud said: “Chief among our potential positives is the hugely under-developed agriculture sector. The Government can show its interest in this sector by providing more market space, so the farmers can properly showcase their goods to the public.”

There is room for growth in the creative industries especially when it comes to improving the standard of Carnival, Aboud said.

 

Source:
Nadaleen Singh
Trinidad Guardian
Tuesday August 30, 2016

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2016-08-30/unemployment-rate-creeps