Cayman Islands’ Unemployment Significantly Down

29 May 2019, 05:43 AM

Politics & Government

Unemployment in the Cayman Islands has dropped to 2.8 percent, according to the latest Labour Force Survey report from the Economics and Statistics Office. This is the lowest unemployment rate for over the past 10 years, compared to 2.6 percent back in 2006.

Unemployment now has fallen further from the 4.9 percent in Fall 2017 and 3.4 percent in Spring 2018, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) Fall 2018 report shows.

Also, the unemployed labour force was estimated at 1,291 persons, a significant decline by 38.1 percent in the level from the same period in the previous year.

The number of unemployed Caymanians has also declined impressively by 34.3 percent, down to 996 persons. Meanwhile, the number of employed Caymanians rose to 20,271, rising by 7.7 percent. This is slightly higher than the growth rate for the whole employed labour force which rose to 44,887 or a growth rate of 9.9 percent relative to the same period a year ago.

Among Non-Caymanians, the unemployment rate also dipped to 0.5 percent from 2.1 percent in Fall 2017.

The latest LFS also estimates the population of the Cayman Islands at 65,813 in Fall 2018. The Caymanian population grew by 2.3 percent to 36,705; the Non-Caymanian population increased by 5.1 percent to 23,168 persons. Permanent Residents rose to 5,940 persons compared to 5,488 persons in Fall 2017.

Meanwhile, the Cayman Islands’ rate of inflation has risen moderately to 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017, according to the latest Cayman Islands Consumer Price Index Report from the Economics and Statistics Office (ESO).

This reflects that the inflation rate has consistently slowed down with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) steadily falling from 4.8 percent in the second quarter and 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018. With the inflation growth slowing to 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter, the average inflation rate for the whole of 2018 is estimated at 3.3 percent.

For more details and to view the full reports, visit www.eso.ky or specifically “The Cayman Islands’ Labour Force Survey Fall 2018 Report” and Cayman Islands’ Consumer Price Index Report: December 2018.