Two per cent decline in jobs last year, statistics reveal

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18: There were 698 fewer jobs in 2011 than in 2010, a two per cent decline.

This marks the third straight year the jobs market declined substantially.

Bermuda had a peak employment of 40,213 jobs in 2008, which has now dropped to 37,399 in 2011.

The Department of Statistics released The Bermuda Job Market: Employment Briefs on Wednesday afternoon.

The report said of the 698 jobs lost, 691 were non-Bermudians, 60 Bermudians, while spouses of Bermudians (+30) and permanent residence holders (+23) increased their job counts.

Of the 698 jobs that were lost in 2011, there was no net change in the number filled by black workers. However, there were significant losses among workers who classified themselves as white, mixed and other races. The two groups reported net losses of 387 and 310 jobs, respectively.

Women were less likely to lose their job than men in 2011, as 90 per cent of the 698 seeking new employment were men.

The main reason for that was the construction industry lost 493 jobs in 2011.

A slight increase in air travellers saw the number of hotel jobs increase by 131.

The real estate sector lost 14 per cent of its filled jobs due to the slumping market.

The number of jobs in the international business sector declined from 4,287 to 4,077.

For the third straight year women earned more than men. On average women earned $59,677 compared to $59,081 for men.

The good news is if you managed to hold onto your job, you were likely earning more money. The median annual salary for job holders in companies with 10 or more employees increased three per cent from $57,915 to $59,364.

The average salary in the international business sector was $111,938 while the average salary for the restaurant sector ($35,664), hotel sector ($35,898) and retail sector ($42,000) were among the lowest paid.

Job holders with no spousal ties to Bermudians were heavily employed in the professionals occupation group, accounting for 30 per cent of work permit holders.

These included actuaries (123 jobs), lawyers (103), and certified accountants (490). They were also some of the better jobs as the median salaries were $189,263 for actuaries, $184,902 for lawyers and $98,229 for certified accountants.

Other positions with large numbers of work permit holders which also paid above the median salary included junior accountants (174 jobs — $96,346), secondary school teachers (153 - $85,500) and registered nurses (490 — $67,598).