Unemployment Rate Falls to 4.2%

Jamaica’s unemployment rate has fallen as at April compared to the initial rate recorded under the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, STATIN’s new system.

In its latest report, STATIN revealed that the country’s unemployment rate stood at 4.2% as at April 2024. That’s down 1.2 percentage points from the 5.4% recorded up January.

STATIN says in April 2024, there were 62,800 unemployed persons in the country.

Most of those unemployed, 58.1%, were females. That’s a rate of 5.3% compared to 3.3 % for males.

There were also 29,400 unemployed youth between the ages of 15 and 24 years in April 2024. That’s a rate of 14.8%. Of that number, 15,000, one hundred or 51.4%, were males.

STATIN says across the country, the unemployment rate was lowest in the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area at 3.1%.

The rates in rural areas and other urban centres, were 4.9% and 4.8%, respectively.