Preliminary results of the April 2013 labour force survey conducted
by the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) show that the national
unemployment rate was 12.1% in that month, compared with 14.4%
twelve months earlier. This represents a fall in the number of persons without a job from about 21,370 to 17,920 persons. The decline in the unemployment rate was due to a smaller percentage of working age persons working or available for work and a significant increase in the number of jobs available.
At the district level, the unemployment rate varied from 8.0% in
Toledo to 15.5% in Stann Creek. With the exception of Belize and
Stann Creek, which were among the three districts with the highest
rates of joblessness, there was a decline in the unemployment
rate in all districts. The unemployment rate in Toledo and Cayo,
in particular, fell by more than five percentage points, reflecting
sizeable employment gains in the agriculture sector. The service
sector was the largest contributor to the increase in jobs in the other districts.
Women continued to be more affected by unemployment than
males. The survey showed that they were three times more likely
to be unemployed than men. As shown in Figure 2, the urban and
rural unemployment rates remained within a percentage point of
each other.
A detailed report on the results of the April 2013 Labour Force
Survey will be released in the next two months.