GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Guyana has recorded its lowest ever unemployment figure of 6.8 per cent, according to the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Bureau of Statistics.
It said that during the first quarter of 2020, the unemployment rate stood at 12.8 per cent, and that by the end of that first quarter, the unemployment rate had increased to 15.6 per cent with a “staggering rise” in unemployment for women, which jumped nearly five percentage points to 19.1 per cent.
The report noted that during this time, almost one in five women in the workforce was unemployed, and that throughout the second and third quarters of that year, the recovery was slow and uneven.
While men saw their unemployment rate fluctuate and then settle at 12 per cent, by the third quarter, women remained stuck in the high teens, ending at 18.4 per cent.
Rural areas consistently struggled more than urban centres, maintaining a jobless rate of 14.8 per cent compared to the urban 13.8 per cent by the third quarter.
But the Bureau of Statistics notes that the situation improved during the period from late 2021 to the end of 2024, when the economy underwent a massive recovery, and the total unemployment rate dropped to a historic low of 6.8 per cent.
“This is a significant improvement from the 14.5 per cent rate recorded in the third quarter of 2021, the survey noted, adding that men reached a low of 5.1 per cent, nearly a third of their 2021 peak, while women saw the most significant absolute improvement, falling from a high of 19.1 per cent to 9.3 per cent,
It said that for the first time in the data set, the gap between rural (6.6 per cent) and urban (7.1 per cent) essentially closed, with rural areas showing a slightly stronger employment rate.
The youth unemployment rate was recorded at 12.1 per cent, a substantial improvement from the 31.9 per cent recorded in the third quarter of 2021, with the report noting that the majority of the labour workforce is employed in wholesale & retail trade, construction, agriculture, forestry and fishing, public administration and defence, and manufacturing.
The survey also noted that more adults are now participating in the job market than in 2021 and that, in late 2024, more than half of working-age adults were either employed or actively seeking employment.
“In the fourth quarter of 2024, the Labour force participation rate was recorded at 56.5 per cent. This represents an increase over the third quarter of 2021, which recorded a rate of 49.6 percent,” according to the survey.
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