Working Paper Series: Special Edition of 2016 to 2018 Interns

4.2. Unemployment Unemployment in Saint Lucia has been historically in the double digits ( Figure 4) . In 1994, while agriculture was still a very significant economic sector, contributing about 8.8 per cent of GDP, the unemployment rate was 16.5 per cent. The collapse of the banana sector in the late 90’s owing to the expiration of the preferential arrangement for banana exports to the UK exacerbated the unemployment state resulting in a steady rise in the number of persons left jobless as many farmers were forced to abandon their banana farms. The economic activity leading up to the 2007 cricket world cup exerted downward pressure on this unemployment trend in the mid-2000s, with the unemployment rate reaching as low as 14.0 per cent in 2007. However, this window of opportunity ended following the global crisis of 2008 and unemployment resumed an upward trajectory. Since 2008 unemployment has averaged above 20 per cent and reached its highest thus far of 24.4 per cent in 2014. -10 0 10 20 30 unemployment real growth Figure 4: Real Growth and Unemployment Source: Ministry of Finance, ECCB Data Series

4.3. Characteristics of the Unemployed

4.3.1 Gender The characteristics of the unemployed lend some insight to the nature of the problem at hand.

Figure 5 shows that females have been disproportionally affected by joblessness than males. Over the last six years, females were on average 1.2 times more likely to be unemployed than males. Male unemployment was on average 20.3 per cent while female unemployment was 25.1 per cent. This disparity suggests a differentiation in traditional gender involvement in the labour market.

Figure 5: Unemployment by Gender

Source: Central Statistics Office, Saint Lucia

Male Female

10 15 20 25 30

0 5

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Source: Central Statistics Office, Saint Lucia

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