This is according to preliminary figures released Tuesday by the Department of Statistics.
But Minister responsible for Labour Vincent Peet remained optimistic that the figures may, in fact, be off or will quickly be reversed.
“We have noted the Department of Statistics report and the report is not conclusive,” Minister Peet told the Bahama Journal Wednesday. “It does not take into account the many developmental projects and the large investments which are now on stream due to the government’s aggressive action in attracting investors to The Bahamas.”
But the Department said that more than 18,000 people who are employable are jobless.
Ten thousand and fifty women and 8,780 men made up the unemployed population when the data was recorded.
The preliminary results also reflect a labour force growth of 3.4 percent during the same period, increasing from 167,980 to 173,795. Of this number, 154,965 persons make up the labour force.
In 2001, there were 153,310 persons employed in The Bahamas compared to 2002 when the number was 152, 690.
At the time, a local economist pointed out that the country’s lagging economy was behind the continued flow of people in the unemployed market.
Minister Peet said, however, said that the economy is now far from lagging.
“Once one takes into account the more than 4,000 jobs which will come on stream shortly with the beginning of Phase III at Kerzner International; the over 400 jobs that will come on stream in a month’s time with the opening of Four Seasons Emerald Bay Resort in Exuma; the other projects in Exuma, which are very near and those which are coming on stream shortly; the projects already on stream and those to come on stream in Abaco and other Family Islands; the over 300 jobs which will come on stream before Christmas through the opening of the Isle of Capri casino in Grand Bahama and the other employment opportunities in Grand Bahama, the unemployment figure will be reduced considerably,” he said.
Minister Peet added that, “In fact, when these developments are fully on stream, any Bahamian who wants to work in The Bahamas will be able to find work and so the future for employment in the country is extremely bright as the economic outlook is extremely bright.”
According to the statistician in charge of the Labour Force, Cypreanna Winters, the employed includes “all persons 15 years old and over, who work for pay anytime during the Reference Week, or who worked without pay for at least one hour in a family operated enterprise. It also includes those persons who are temporarily absent from their regular jobs because of vacation, illness, inclement weather or similar reasons.”
Some people who make up the unemployed population say jobs are not that easy to find.
John Rolle – who has resorted to cleaning cars in the downtown area and who said he takes home a few dollars every day if he’s lucky – is one of them.
“Whenever I go looking for job, I tell them I’m HIV positive,” said Mr. Rolle, who added that he often cleans cars without their owners’ permission. “On one occasion when I wore a short sleeved shirt, they asked if I had the chicken pox, when I told them I was infected, they said they had no vacancies and to come back later. No one really helps you. The majority of the guys in government got what they want and here it is, some of them really are not interested in you.”
The 39-year-old East Street resident added, “It’s better than stealing. But any job would do. It doesn’t matter what kind, as long as it’s one that’s an honest living.”
On Tuesday Jackson Butler, 23, appeared distressed and discouraged.
“I’ve been looking for a job a little while now, but there’s nothing really going on in Nassau,” he said. “Contractors have been promising us we’d have jobs by September over Paradise Island, but this was switched to January. I don’t know how they expect us to make it through Christmas and have a good holiday.”
He said a major stumbling block for him in his job search is that his parents never recorded his birth.
Mr. Butler was carrying a letter from the Registrar General’s Office which said that there was indeed no record of his birth.
“It’s not supposed to be like this,” he said. “But my first issue is to get my birth certificate. I don’t have an education, but I still have to try.
“I looking for a future and I really don’t have one right now, and it’s really painful. Sometimes you wake up and you can’t even buy breakfast, not even a cup of tea and that’s really hard. But the only think I can do is try…I can’t rob or I’d end up in Fox Hill prison and I don’t want to be there.”
But while some are looking for a job – any job – there are others who are happy with the little they do have, like street cleaner Leon Green.
“I work really hard,” he said. ” I clean the street real good. I am happy that I at least have a job.”
However, Mr. Green said he was hoping to find a better job after cleaning the street for the past 16 years.
“I’m trying to move up,” Mr. Green said.
This year’s Labour Force and Household Survey reflects data gathered from some 3,500 homes throughout New Providence, Grand Bahama and Exuma during the last week in April.
The unemployment rate is an indication of the country’s economic performance. With the wealth of information collected in the survey, the government assesses the needs of the country, develops and evaluates economic policies that are consistent with the current needs of The Bahamas.
The Department of Statistics is expected to release the entire report within a couple of months.
By Macushla Pinder, The Bahama Journal
