The Cayman Islands total labour force reached 42,941 persons as at end December 2017, growing by 1.8 percent or 745 persons compared to the same period in 2016.

The labour force comprised of 20,774 Caymanians (48.4% of the total), 4,348 Permanent Residents With Rights to Work (10.1%) and 17,819 Non-Caymanians (41.5%).

The growth in the labour force is due largely to the increase in the Caymanian labour force by 843 persons (or 4.2%). The Permanent Residents With Rights to Work declined by 5.0 percent while Non-Caymanian labour force increased marginally by 0.7 percent.

Out of the 843 persons comprising the net increase in the Caymanian labour force, 734 were employed while 109 were unemployed.

Total employment as of end 2017 is estimated at 40,856 representing a growth of 1.1 percent (or 445 persons) over the employment level as of end 2016.  The growth is traced solely to the increase in employment of Caymanians by 734 persons (or 4.0%) as the employment of Permanent Residents With Rights to Work and Non-Caymanians fell.

The overall unemployment rate in Fall 2017 was estimated at 4.9 percent. The Caymanian unemployment rate was estimated at 7.3 percent. Among the unemployed Caymanians, those with college/university education and post-secondary education have unemployment rates of   0.9 percent and 4.5 percent respectively. Those with high school education have an unemployment rate of 13.0%.

More information on “The Cayman Islands’ Labour Force Survey Fall 2017 Report” are available at www.eso.ky.

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