Hiring associated with the inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival was a key factor in driving the unemployment rate down from 15.7 percent to 12 percent nationally, the Department of Statistics reported yesterday. The Labour Force Survey results also show that hiring by the troubled Baha Mar resort ahead of what was expected to be a spring opening also contributed to the decline in unemployment.

More than 2,400 Baha Mar workers are now in limbo as the fate of the Cable Beach project remains uncertain. The jobs survey was conducted in May. The results provide information on the labor force as it existed during the reference period of April 27 to May 3, 2015. The previous survey was taken in November 2014.

“It should be noted that the reference period which occurred shortly before the carnival would therefore have captured preparatory work and additional employment related to this event in both New Providence and Grand Bahama,” said Cypreanna Winters, the statistician responsible for the survey.

“It also captured additional employees to Baha Mar and its associated outsourcing companies in its efforts to meet its spring opening.

“Likewise, [on] some islands, temporary employment associated with homecomings was also recorded.”

According to the survey, at the time it was taken, 24,980 people were listed as unemployed – 13,375 women and 11,605 men. The latest survey notes that 183,915 people were listed as employed, compared to the 174,245 people in the previous surve. This represents an increase of 9,670 people being employed.

In its report, the Bahamas National Festival Commission reported that carnival, which took place between May 7-9, created 7,208 direct and indirect jobs. Department of Statistics Director Kelsie Dorsett said the manufacturing sector (arts and craft), including people who made carnival costumes, contributed to the employment figures by four percent. She revealed that for some people these were second jobs.

“We have not really examined the information in that much detail as yet,” she said when asked how significant of an impact carnival jobs had on employment.

“We are thinking that quite a few of the discouraged workers are people who heard about carnival and heard about what was happening at Baha Mar – remember this was Baha Mar at the time when they were thinking of the spring opening and gathering additional staff.”

She admitted the unemployment rate will likely increase in the next Labour Force Survey unless the “special event” is sustained. Dorsett was also asked whether the new Labour Force Survey was a true reflection of the number of people unemployed given that carnival jobs were temporary.

“We would have to say that because we have a reference period and that is why we have said earlier, it should be noted that the reference period occurred shortly before this incident with carnival and Baha Mar,” she said.

“Now, yes, we would know that what is happening there would have an impact.

“That is the problem associated with not being able to do a Labour Force [Survey] every month.

“I mean, we don’t have the resources to do that, so there is a lag, and that is one of the reasons we have started doing the Labour Force [Survey] twice a year as opposed to once a year.”

In the case of New Providence, the rate of unemployment fell from 16 percent to 12 percent, and in Grand Bahamas from 18.6 percent to 12.9 percent. In Abaco, the rate fell from 20.3 percent to 12.2 percent. Discouraged workers declined by 13 percent nationally, from 4,560 workers in November 2014, to 3,950 in May 2015. This category consists of people who are willing and able to work but have stopped looking for work because they feel there are no jobs available.

Labor force

A breakdown of the unemployment statistics show that 17,795 people were listed as unemployed on New Providence, 3,600 in Grand Bahamas and 1,265 in Abaco. The labor force totaled 208,895 people at the time of the most recent survey – 103,290 women and 105,605 men. Of that number, 130,750 were employed in New Providence, 24,400 in Grand Bahama and 9,095 in Abaco.

There were improved unemployment rates despite a 36 percent loss of jobs (4,447) in the finance, insurance, real estate and other business service sectors, officials noted. There were 12,355 people employed in these sectors. The numbers reveal that unemployment among young people, ages 15 to 24, declined from 31 percent to 25.3 percent, a difference of 5.7 percent.

Young people account for 23 percent of the labor force, according to the survey. Meanwhile, 65 percent (118,770) of the employed labor force was engaged by the private sector; 20 percent (36,510) by the government or government corporations and 15 percent (27,525) was self employed. Non-Bahamians account for 13 percent of the employed labor force, the department revealed.

Since May 2012, 23,265 net jobs were added to the economy, according to the survey. The number of people employed in May 2012 was 160,650 compared to the 183,915 employed in May 2015, the survey shows.