The labour force

• All persons in a given population who furnish the

supply of labour for the production of goods and
services during a specific time or reference period
• Who are the individuals in the labour force
• All persons between a specific age set by the law
in that country
• Usually 14-65 .
• In JA 14-60 females, 14-65 males who are
working, seeking work or available for work
• The labour force includes both the employed and
the unemployed
 Analysis of the labour force
Analysis based on two principles
• the gainfully occupied principle
• Activity principle
Gainfully occupied population is based on the question .
Do you have a trade or profession from which you earn a living?

• Used prior to the adoption of the activity principle

• More subjective measure\
• based on the classification of the persons who
reported themselves as having an occupation,
profession or trade from which they earned an
income ( cash or kind) or in which they had
assisted in the production of goods and services,
irrespective of if they had actually worked or
sought work during the reference period
 Gainful occupation
• Good measure of the potential labour
supply
• Helps you to identify level of skilled
persons in the population
Limitations of the gainfully occupied
approach
• Does not distinguish between the employed
and unemployed
• Retired persons although not available for
work would have stated their previous
occupation
• Persons now entering the labour force who
did not have an occupation to report would
be excluded
 Activity principle
Based on the question. What were you doing during the reference week of the
survey? Used to determine those who were working/economically active
– Persons who were economically active
• On the job or vacation leave (with or without pay), sick leave,
bad weather, strike, lockdown, lay off with, <30 dys, with
instructions to return.
– Since the emphasis is to determine the labour force .
We also have to be able to identify those who are
seeking work /or willing and able to accept work if
offered a job
– Under this principle work takes precedence.

– Prior to 1973 those who worked at least 8 hours were considered

active.
– After 1973 those who worked one hour during the reference week
were active
 Categories of working persons
• Wage/salary workers
• Those who work for commission, tips, for
lodging or any other type of payment cash
or kind
• Trainees or apprentices (nurse, tradesman)
• Own a business or farm- usually referred to
as self-employed (including doctor, lawyer ,vendors to
name a few)
• Non- paid/unpaid worker- family business
Persons who are doing work but are not
included in the category of workers
• Housewives or house husbands
• Persons who did their own gardening,
painting, spring cleaning or other jobs
around their own home
• Volunteers:
– Church, NGOs, community
Who are those persons within the working age
population who are not apart of the labour force?
• Working age generally classified as persons 15-64 years
• Those not apart of the labour force include:
– Full time students,
– persons engaged in home duties i.e. house wives / house husbands
– Physically incapacitated persons, usually those who are mentally
or physically disabled to the point that they are incapable of
holding down a job.
– Those who retired, either at an early age or after reaching the age
of retirement.
In many countries, especially those in the developing would, persons
have dual statuses
• A full time student attending school and still working
part-time or full-time is very much a part of the
labour force and can be correctly classified as
employed
To properly classified those who are in the labour force
and those outside the labour force the following questions
are asked.
• Did you do any work during the week ending…?
A. yes
B. no
• What were you doing most of the time during the week
ending…?
A. working
B. looking for work
C. at school full-time
D. with job not working
E. at home
F. incapable of working
 Some Terms to Remember
• Working age pop- 15 to 64 years
• Labour force- persons 14-64
– Females: 14-60
– Males: 14- 65

Child labour:

(a) child aged 5-11years performing 1 hour of economic

work outside the house and 28 hours of domestic work per week*

(b) child aged 12-14 years performing 14 hour of economic

work outside the house and 28 hours of domestic work per week*
*source: Convention on the Rights of the Child
6.1% children aged 5-14 employed.8% aged 5-11, 2% 12-14yrs
Source: Jamaica Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2005)
 Employed
• those who work for a wage or salary in cash or in

kind
• those who are formally attached to a job but not at
work
• Self employed persons
– who are working for cash or in the family business
(also have unpaid family workers workers),
Reminder:
Persons working for at least one hour during the survey
week. Prior to 1973 the cut-off was eight hours
 Employment rate
• This indicator captures the percentage of
the labour force who are employed.
• Cal:
employed .
employed + unemployed 100
Labour force participation rate
labour force X 100
population 14+
 Categories of the Unemployed
• Those persons who are without work, currently
available for work and seeking work ( job-seekers)
• Those persons who are without work, currently
available for work but not seeking work ( non job-
seekers)
• Those persons who are without work, currently not
available for work and currently not seeking work.
• Those in categories 1&2 are of interest
 Frictional unemployment
• Frictional unemployment sometimes called searched unemployment : used to
define a situation where persons are temporary between jobs. Usually occurs
as a result workers quitting their jobs or being fired . In some cases the
individual may have been looking for a better job, applies for a job or is
offered a job and resigns from his/her former job to take up a new job ( better
job). However at the time of the survey they are unemployed. To get at this we
would have to look at the duration of unemployment.

‘Unemployed by duration of unemployment revealed that 30 per cent were unemployed for
twelve months and over and 17 per cent were unemployed for six months but less than 12
months in October 2009. Eighteen per cent of the unemployed reported that they have never
worked. These proportions are not significantly different from what obtained in October 2008
when 31 per cent were unemployed for 12 months or over, 15 per cent were unemployed for 6
months but less than 12 months and 19 per cent of the unemployed had never worked.’( STATIN, Labour
 How do we to identify those
who are looking for work?
• These are persons who
– Have registered at employment agency
– On call as available for work- nurse at registered
hospital
– Visited a job sites ( office, construction site, factory
etc.)
– Applied in person for a job (school leavers)
– Have written letters of application
– Advertised in the media
– Asked someone (friend, relative, politician or other) to
find a job for you
– Made investigations , with the intention of starting a
business
 Cal unemployment rate
• Narrow rate :

Unemployed and seeking a job X100

Employed
+ Unemployed and seeking a job
 Broad rate
• Unemployed and seeking a job
+
unemployed but not seeking job X100
Employed + Unemployed and seeking a job+
unemployed but not seeking job
 Labour force participation rates
• Tells the per cent of persons 14 years and
over who are a part of the labour force., i.e.
available for work.

# persons employed + # persons unemployed X100

# persons in population aged14 and older
 Unemployment rates
Year Total Youth Adult

2005 11.2 25.5 8.2

2006 10.3 23.6 7.6

2007 9.8 23.7 7.7

2008 10.6 25.9 7.9

2009 11.4 27.1 8.9
2010 12.4 30.8 8.7
2011 12.7 30.1 9.9
 Unemployment rates
Age group 2005 2008 2010

14-19 37.7 40.7 44.8

20-24 23.7 24.5 29.8

25-34 12.0 12.0 13.2
35-44 9.7 9.3 9.8
45-54 6.9 6.0 6.6
55-64 5.4 4.5 5.8
65+ 4.2 3.6 1.8
 Labour Market Interactions
Labour Force Labour Force
Supply Demand

Labour Market Outcomes

Unemployment
Underemployment

• Involuntary part-time work

• Low wages
• Occupational mismatch
 Labour Market Interactions
Labour Force Labour Force
Supply Demand

Labour Market Outcomes

Unemployment
Underemployment

• Involuntary part-time work

• Low wages
• Occupational mismatch
 Factors Contributing to
Labour Force Structure
Population in Population
Base Period of Labour
• Births Force
• Deaths Age (14+)
• Migration in Current
Fertility Period
Changes

Educational Labour LABOUR FORCE

Enrolment Force SIZE and
Non-market sources Participation COMPOSITION
of Income Rates
(remittances,
welfare payments, etc.
Factors related to Labour Supply
Labour Force Supply

age structure
gender composition
education
training
work experience
attitudes
 Factors Related to
Labour Demand and Productivity
Labour Force Demand
(Job Supply)
macro-economic policy
investment
industrial structure
technology
global competitiveness
export processing
gender stereotyping
unionization
labour legislation
public works
organizational factors
illegal activity
social climate
status in employment
 Changes in size of labour force 2000-2012
Year Male Female Total Male % of
total LF

2000 615600 479300 1094900 56.2

2002 624,700 510,100 113,480 55.0

2004 660700 534600 1,195,300 55.3

2005 664000 529300 1,193,300 55.6
2006 693,900 557,500 1,251,400 55.4

2011 680,800 July 554,600 1,235,400 55.1

2012 685,200 july 570,800 1,256,000 54.6
 Levels of Employment and Unemployment in Jamaica, 1991-
2012
Year Employed Unemployed Percent
Unemployed

January1991 907500 160800 15.1

April 1995 964500 185300 16.1

April 1998 952700 173200 15.4

April 2000 924900 170000 15.5

April 2002 966300 168400 14.8
April 2005 1047200 146,100 12.2
April 2006 1,117,700 133,600 10.7

April 2009 11.4

January 2011 1,106,500 163,500 14.3
April 2012 1,081,300 179,900 12.9
 Not in labour force 2000-2012
Year Male Female Total

2002 220400 397000 617400

Unemployment rate (9.8) (19.3) (14.0)
2003 236100 419500 655600
(9.0) (17.1) (12.6)
2004 242900 416900 659800
(8.2) (18.8) 13.0)
2005 245,700 437,800 679,000
(8.8) (16.6)
2006 251400 432,500 683,900
(7.3) (14.9)
2011 296,000 476,700 772,700
2012 292,900 461,800 754,700
 Per cent outside of the LF
• In 2012 44.7 % female population 14+
• 29.9 % male population 14+
were outside of the labour force
 Unemployment by age 2011-2012
BOTH SEXES  
GROUP
Jul-11 Jul-12
TOTAL 12.3 12.8
     
14 - 19 43.1 46.3
20 - 24 25.2 29.3
25 - 34 13.2 14.7
35 - 44 10.1 9.3
45 - 54 7.5 7.5
55 - 64 4.6 5.3
  UNEMPLOYMENT RATES BY BROAD AGE AROUPS AND SEX

MALES
2011 2012
TOTAL 8.9 9.6
14 - 19 31.2 41.9
20 - 24 19.8 22.3
25 - 34 9.4 10.9
35 - 44 6.7 5.8
45 - 54 5.4 5.9
55 - 64 4.7 5.3
65 and over 3.7 2.5
  FEMALES
TOTAL 16.4 16.7
14 - 19 60.3 53.2
20 - 24 31.7 37.4
25 - 34 17.5 18.7
35 - 44 14 13.1
45 - 54 10.2 9.5
 Unemployment rates 2000
Age group Montserrat Anguilla Barbados
15-19 27.2 11.85 15-24 16.56
20-24 12.8 4.74
25-29 11.9 3.13 25—44 4.93
30-34 9.16 2.87
35-39 10.18 2.03
40-44 10.89 1.85
45-49 11.74 2.56 45-54 3.24
50-54 10.75 1.39
55-59 12.61 2.53 55-64 2.78
60-64 12.90 2.90
65-69 18.8 2.82 65+ 1.18
Total 12.06 3.2 6.17
  
Distribution of Labour force by
Occupational groups 2012 July
TOTAL %
Professionals, Senior Officials and Technicians 254,600 20.3
Clerks 113,900 9.1
Service Workers and Shop and Market Sales Workers 250,800 20.0
Skilled Agricultural and Fishery Workers 199,900 15.9
Craft and Related Trades Workers 169,800 13.5
Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers 61,500 4.9
Elementary Occupations 169,300 13.5
Occupation not specified 1,700 0.1
CLASSIFIABLE LABOUR FORCE 1,221,500 97.3
NO PREVIOUS OCCUPATION 34,500 2.7
   
TOTAL LABOUR FORCE 1,256,000
Distribution of Labour force by sex and occupational groups, 2012
 occupational groups
male female sex ratios
Professionals, Senior Officials and Technicians 99,000 155,600
63.6
Clerks 26,300 87,600 30.0
Service Workers and Shop and Market Sales
93,200 157,600
Workers 59.1
Skilled Agricultural and Fishery Workers 163,100 36,800
443.2
Craft and Related Trades Workers 156,100 13,700 1139.4
Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers 57,300 4,200
1364.3
Elementary Occupations 77,000 92,300 83.4
Occupation not specified 1,000 700 142.9
CLASSIFIABLE LABOUR FORCE 673,000 548,500 122.7
NO PREVIOUS OCCUPATION 12,200 22,300 54.7
     
LABOUR FORCE 685,200 570,800 120.0
 Number of hours worked by male, female labour force 2012

   Total Males Females

TOTAL 1,094,700 100.0 619,400 100.0 475,300 100.0

Under 9 hours 17,700 1.6 7,200 1.2 10,500 2.2

9 to under 17 hours 18,700 1.7 7,100 1.1 11,600 2.4

17 to under 25 hours 40,100 3.7 17,800 2.9 22,300 4.7

25 to under 35 hours 63,400 5.8 34,200 5.5 29,200 6.1

35 to under 41 hours 445,600 40.7 219,200 35.4 226,400 47.6

41 to under 49 hours 206,000 18.8 130,000 21.0 76,000 16.0

49 hours and over 303,200 27.7 203,900 32.9 99,300 20.9

Persons Outside the Labour Force who Previously
Worked by
Reason Stopped Working, 2004
40

35

30

25

BOTH SEXES
20 MALE
FEMALE

15

Persons Outside the Labour Force w ho Previously Worked by

Reason Stopped Working, 2004
10

0
Job Completed Resigned Resigned Job Lost Job/ Laid Off Redundant Business Failed Retired Moved to New Other
Personal Conditions Dismissed Area
Reasons
 Unemployment rate 2002 for
Selected C’ bean countries
Male Female Total
Jamaica 10.6 20.7 15.1
Barbados 8.7 12.1 10.3
Trinidad 7.8 14.5 10.4
St. Lucia 13.6 19.3 16.3
Bahamas 8.8 9.4 9.1
Belize 9.0 20.3 12.8
 Gender and Unemployment in
Jamaica
Year Male Female Total

2000 10.4 22.1 15.5

2002 10.5 20.2 14.8

2005 8.8 16.6 12.2

2006 7.3 14.9 10.7
2009 8.6 14.8 11.4
 Males by occupational group April 2006

13.94 12.7

3.46

9.63
Prof, Sen offic, Tech
Clerks
12.05
Service & sales
Skilled Agri& fisheries
Craft % retail trade
Plant& machine operators and assemblers
Elementary occupations

24.75

23.48

females by occupational group April 2006

22.62 23.21

Prof, Sen offic, Tech

Clerks
1.35 Service & sales
Skilled Agri& fisheries
3.92
Craft % retail trade
Plant& machine operators and assemblers
13.4 Elementary occupations
6.96

28.54
Occupations of the Employed Labour
Force, 1991.

Elem.
Clerical
Service
Sales
Agri.
Crafts
Prof.
 Unemployment 1998, 2002

Parish 1998 2002

Kingston 16.7 17.7
St. Andrew 10.4 11.5
St. Thomas 20.9 22.3
Portland 25.1 23.7
St. Mary 11.7 8.3
St. Ann 19.9 19.8
Trelawny 11.4 14.6
St. James 19.6 18.8
Hanover 20.2 26.8
Westmoreland 21.3 12.7
St. Elizabeth 15.2 10.5
Manchester 19.5 13.2
Clarendon 14.0 17.0
Percent Unemployed by Age and
Area - Jamaica
Age Groups KMA Other Rural
1995 towns, 1995 towns, 1995
All ages 10.6 21.0 16.2
15-19 27.2 56.1 44.1
20-24 19.6 33.7 3.1
25-34 9.2 17.2 14.1
35 and older 6.3 11.1 5.6
 Unemployed by age-group 2006
Age Groups Male Female Total
All ages 7.3 14.9 10.7
14-19 34.0 54.4 42.0
( 40.6:09)
20-24 13.5 29.3 20.6 (23.5)
25-34 7.9 16.3 11.8
35-44 3.5 10.7 6.9
54-54 4.4 7.8 5.9
55-64 4.2 4.7 4.4
65 and older 2.8 1.0 2.2
 Occupational group 2006

Occupational gp males Fem % male % female

ales
Prof, Sen offic, Tech 87000 125100 41.02 58.98
Clerks 23700 72200 24.71 75.29

Service & sales 82600 153800 34.94 65.06

Skilled Agri & fisheries 160900 37500 81.10 18.90

Craft % retail trade 169600 21100 88.94 11.06

Plant& machine 66000 7300 90.04 9.96

operators and assemblers

Elementary occupations 95500 121900 43.93 56.07

 The rural-urban-drift
• Stigma attached to agriculture
• Low wages
• Unavailability of land
• Lack of credit
• Vulnerability to natural disasters
• Poor living conditions and general infrastructure
• Entertainment
• Social mobility
 Reasons for high youth
unemployment in the Caribbean
• Weak aggregate demand for labour
• Inappropriateness of education and training
• Relative inexperience
• Absence of well functioning vocational guidance
and placement facilities
• attitudes of young people and their aspirations
concerning work
• New labour market developments-globalization
 Theoretical approaches
• Cyclical Theory –change in aggregate
demand and the business cycle
– School-leaver hypothesis-
• Structural Theory –underlying social and
economic structure
 Educational Upgrading of the
Jamaican Labour Force 1991-1998
60

percent 50
with 4+ 40
years of
secondary 30
1991
education
20 1998

10

0
Levels of Unemployment by Education
for Jamaican Youth, April 1998.
60

50

40
No secondary
30
1-3 years sec.
20 4+ years sec.

10

0
Males 14-24 yrs Females 14-24 yrs
 Growth and Contraction by
Economic Sector, 1991-1998.
Sectors which gained Sectors which lost jobs
jobs
Hotels, restaurants and Agriculture
recreation
Social and Community Textile Manufacturing
Construction
Transport Other Manufacturing
Financial and Business
Personal Services Public Administration
Utilities
Occupations of the Employed Labour
Force, 1998.

Elem.
Clerical
Service
Sales
Agri.
Crafts
Prof.
Percentage distribution of labour force by industry 2006 Percentage distribution by industry 2000

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing

Mining, Quarrying and Refining Mining, Quarrying and Refining
Manufacture Manufacture
Electricity, Gas and Water Electricity, Gas and Water
Construction and Installation Construction and Installation
Wholesale & Retail, Hotels & Restaurant Services Wholesale & Retail, Hotels & Restaurant Services
Transport, Storage and Communications Transport, Storage and Communications
Financing, Ins. Real Estate & Business Services Financing, Ins. Real Estate & Business Services
Community, Social and Personal Services Community, Social and Personal Services
Industry not Classified Industry not Classified
Changes in Percent Self-Employed for
Occupational Groups, 1991-1998

60

50

40

30 1991
1998
20

10

0
Prof. Serv. Sales Crafts Elem.
 Educational Upgrading by Size
of Firm,1995-1998
80
Percent
with 70
4+ years 60
50
of
secc.ed 40 1995
30 1998

20
10
0
Own Account Small Scale Large Scale