KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s unemployment rate has fallen to a new all-time low of 3.5 per cent, according to the Labour Force Survey for October 2024, extending a run of improvement in the island’s job market.
The figure, down from 3.6 per cent in July, was reported by the Jamaica Information Service on January 24. The number of unemployed people fell to 51,300 from 52,600 three months earlier.
Inside the numbers
The labour force stood at 1,468,300 people, with a participation rate of 68.1 per cent. Of the 1,417,000 people in work, men accounted for just over 54 per cent. Wholesale and retail trade, including motor vehicle repair, was the largest employer with 265,600 workers, more than half of them women. Service and sales workers made up about a quarter of all employed persons.
Unemployment was higher among women, at 4.5 per cent, than among men, at 2.6 per cent, and women made up 60 per cent of those without jobs.
Young people still lagging
The picture is less encouraging for young Jamaicans. The unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 was 11.0 per cent, rising to 13.7 per cent for young women. Some 108,900 youths, or 22.2 per cent of the age group, were neither employed nor in education or training. Officials noted that skills programmes are producing encouraging results in moving young people into work, but youth joblessness remains a challenge.
What it means for the housing market
More people in steady work means more NHT contributors and more households able to qualify for mortgages, which supports demand for homes and rental units. A tight labour market can also push up wages, particularly in construction, adding to building costs for developers and homeowners planning to build. For investors, sustained employment growth underpins rental demand in urban and resort areas, while the gap in youth employment is a reminder that affordability for first-time buyers remains a pressing concern.
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