Prime Minister Philip Davis said yesterday that the results of the latest labour force survey indicate that the country is headed in the right direction.
While the 8.8 percent unemployment rate is lower than pre-pandemic levels, Davis stressed that his administration will not rest on its laurels.
In a statement on the recently released results of the country’s latest Labour Force Survey, Davis said that their “collective hard work is paying off.
“We’re driving down unemployment and getting our people back to work. In July 2022, The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) estimated that the unemployment rate in The Bahamas stood at 18 per cent.
“As of May 2023, the rate has been reduced to 8.8 percent, lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2019, which stood at 9.5 percent.”
Davis added: “I am especially pleased that our measures had an impact in Grand Bahama and Abaco, two of our hardest-hit areas in the past few years, where jobs and opportunities are returning. This administration will double its efforts through the Ministry of Grand Bahama and the Department of Labour to move the unemployment numbers for Grand Bahama in a positive direction.
“Our focus remains clear: Bahamians come first. We’ve made sure of this by enforcing the Bahamianization Policy. With initiatives like ‘Labour on The Blocks 2.0’ and ‘Labour on the Campus’, since May 2022, we’ve helped more than 3,000 Bahamians find employment.”
The country’s latest Labour Force Survey has revealed that there are just over 19,000 persons unemployed in the country.
The survey, which was conducted last month by the Bahamas National Statistical Institute, is the first labour force survey since November 2019 and included the islands of New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Bimini, North Eleuthera, Long Island, and San Salvador.
