Labour Force Survey shows decreasing unemployment, an increasing population.
The Government’s Spring 2023 Labour Force Survey, coupled with WORC’s report for September, showing the latest figures for job postings, together indicate a strengthening post-covid economy, with a rising population, rising labour force, and more job opportunities.
Estimates from the Cayman Islands Labour Force Survey (LFS) Spring 2023 Report show the total labour force increased by 7.9% in the past year to include 58,669 people as of June 2023. With 1,404 people being counted as unemployed, the overall unemployment rate dropped to 2.4% from 3.0% in June 2022. The number of unemployed Caymanians declined by 316 to a total 842 individuals, resulting in a Caymanian unemployment rate of 3.7% compared to 5.1% for the same period in 2022.
The overall Cayman Islands population grew by 6.5% above the June 2022 figure to reach 83,671. Broken down by immigration status, the Caymanian population rose by 1.3% to 38,926; the Permanent Resident population decreased to 6,433 from 6,756 in June 2022; and the Non-Caymanian population is estimated to have increased by 14.8% to reach 38,312.
Labour market estimates from the Survey show the unemployment rate – the proportion of unemployed persons to the total labour force – at 2.4%, in the midst of a total labour force, and population increase.
The total labour force increased by 7.9% to reach 58,669 persons. The employed labour force was estimated at 57,266 persons, an increase of 8.5% compared to Spring 2022. The number of unemployed people was estimated at 1,404.
Employed Caymanians were estimated at 21,615, reflecting an increase of 1.5% compared to Spring 2022. The number of unemployed Caymanians declined by 316 to a total 842 persons in Spring 2023, resulting in an unemployment rate of 3.7%, lower than the 5.1% in Spring 2022.
A review of the labour force distribution by immigration status showed that 38.3 percent of the Islands’ workers were Caymanians, 54.8 percent were non-Caymanians, and 6.9 percent were Permanent Residents with the right to work.
The top five occupations were professionals (19.8%); service and sales workers (19.1%); craft and related trades workers (15.3%); elementary occupations (12.9%); and technicians and associate professionals (12.3%).
The top six industries accounting for 57.0 percent of the employed labour force were construction (14.6%); wholesale and retail trade (10.9%); professional, scientific, and technical activities (9.5%); financial and insurance activities (7.5%); administrative and support service activities (7.3%); and accommodation (7.2%).
The Cayman Islands’ Labour Force Survey Spring 2023 Report is available at www.eso.ky
WORC’s job report for September – which uses postings on the Jobs Cayman portal to evaluate month-by-month employment trends, showed an increase of 137 job postings over the previous month’s total of 1,729. The Construction, Accommodation, and Food Service Activities, and Administrative and Support
Service activities industries dominated the job postings, both for September as well as for the month and year-to-date period. job postings in the legal, healthcare, actuarial, financial services, economist, and information technology career fields accounted for most of the highest salaries offered in both review periods.