Jamaica’s unemployment rate increased to 3.7% up from 3.3%

Jamaica’s unemployment rate has increased to 3.7 per cent, up from 3.3 per cent.

This was revealed in the April Labour Force Survey released by STATIN yesterday.

The reference week for the survey was April 12–18, with comparisons made with April 2025.

According to STATIN, 1,418,800 people were employed, a decline of 25,700 individuals.

The number of unemployed persons was estimated at 55,000, up from 50,000.

STATIN says the male unemployment rate was 2.7 per cent and the female unemployment rate was 4.9 per cent, both reflecting an increase.

The number of youth who were unemployed increased to 21,000 from 19,600, resulting in a youth unemployment rate of 11.7 per cent.

The labour force in April totalled 1,473,900 individuals.

The male labour force fell by 7,300, while the female labour force declined by 13,200.

The employed labour force declined by 1.8 per cent relative to April 2025.

Employment among males declined by 1.1 per cent to 761,000, while the number of employed females fell by 2.5 per cent to 657,900.

There were 158,700 employed youth, a decline of 9.1 per cent compared to April 2025.

The total number of persons outside the labour force was estimated at 681,900, an increase of 20,500.

In the meantime, STATIN pointed out that St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St. James, Hanover and Trelawny continued to experience disruptions following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.