T&T recorded the lowest unemployment rate in the country's history in the first quarter of 2013 when the rate fell from 4.7 per cent to 3.7 per cent.This is according to data in the latest Labour Force bulletin from he Central Statistical Office collected in the Continuous Sample Survey of Population conducted between January- March 2013.The CSO reported that the unemployment rate for females decreased from 6.6 per cent to 4.7 per cent, while unemployment rate for males decreased from 4.6 per cent to 3 per cent.
Compared to the same quarter a year earlier the overall unemployment rate fell from 5.4 per cent to 3.7 per cent.
This decline in the unemployment rate were reported in specific industries including, financing, insurance, real estate and business services, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels and transport, storage and communication."The labour force of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago registered 635,100 persons at the end of the first quarter 2013," the CSO said."This represented an increase of 5,400 or 0.8 per cent when compared to the Fourth Quarter 2012.
From a gender perspective, this increase in the labour force was reflected among males which rose by 0.1 per cent and females which increased by 1.9 per cent when compared with the previous quarter.When compared to the corresponding quarter in 2012, the overall labour force for the 1st Quarter 2013 revealed an increase of 11,600 or 1.9 per cent." The overall labour force participation rate rose from 61.7 per cent in the fourth quarter 2012 to 61.9 per cent in the first quarter 2013.
The labour force participation rate for males fell to 72.4 per cent while the labour force participation rate for females increased to 51.5 per cent. When compared with the corresponding quarter of 2012, the overall labour force participation rate increased from 61.8 per cent to 61.9 per cent.The survey data showed an increase of 11,500 or 1.9 per cent in the number of persons with jobs, in the quarter under review.
From a gender perspective, the number of employed males rose by 4,000 or 1.1 per cent while the number of employed females increased by 7,500 or 3 per cent.When compared to the corresponding quarter a year earlier, the data showed that the total number of persons employed in T&T increased significantly by 22,100 or 3.7 per cent.The Labour Force Bulletin is available at www.cso.planning.gov.tt.