Youth unemployment is 36 per cent

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 17: Bermuda’s unemployment rate is 8 per cent according to the Department of Statistics.

The Department also revealed nearly 20 per cent of the working population — 6,760 people— was also underemployed.

The survey was conducted during the week of May 13 to 19, 2012.

According to the 2012 Labour Force Survey, there were 3,305 unemployed in 2012 compared to 2,583 in 2010 — a rise from six per cent to eight percent.

More than 1,000 people were considered long-term unemployed by the survey. A total of 641 job seekers were out of work between one and two years and an additional 572 people were out of work more than two years.

Youth unemployment was 36 per cent with 1,176 people looking for a job out of 3,295.

The median gross annual earnings for all workers was virtually unchanged at $58,698.

Males and females recorded employment losses of 543 and 780, respectively between 2010 and 2012. The decline in number of non-Bermudian workers of 1,083 was triple the employment loss among Bermudians, down 336.

The survey said the number of blacks in the working population fell from 20,171 in 2010 to 17,229 in 2012.

In contrast, the number of whites increased from 11,312 in 2010 to 13,237 in 2012.

The annual median pay of Bermudians declined three per cent from $56,264 to $54,550. In contrast, all other status groups experienced higher income earnings as permanent residents’ ($74,499) and non-Bermudians’ ($87,089) pay increased 28 per cent and 23 per cent respectively.

Males earned $60,156 compared to $57,322 for women.

The Department of Statistics did a random sample of 1,500 households and the survey has a +- margin of error of 2.5 per cent.