Good Afternoon,

Today I am joined by the Minister of Labour, the Hon. Jason Hayward to highlight the 2020 Labour Force Survey Report from the Department of Statistics, and to discuss Bermuda's labour and workforce market.

Minister Hayward will speak to the continued effort of his Ministry to support, train and guide our workforce.

As it relates to the 2020 Labour Force Survey, the report contains selected indicators of the labour force and economically inactive population.

As a note the last labour force survey was conducted in November 2019. And the latest report statistics are indicators that have been captured from May 2019 - November 2020.

The term ‘labour force’ refers to those persons of working age who were 16 years or older during the survey reference timeframe and were either gainfully employed (the working population) or available and looking for work (the unemployed population).

Last year was a particularly difficult year, where many businesses, employers and employees were affected by the challenges in our economy and labour market due to the pandemic.

So it’s important to understand and appreciate the context and background as we review and assess these statistics.

As it stands key highlights from the November 2020 Labour Force Survey Report are as follows:

1.      The labour force stood at 36,387 persons.

2.      The working population reached 33,496 persons.

3.      Among the working population 4,977 persons were underemployed.

4.      The employment rate was 75.6%

5.      The average hours worked per week was 40.2.

6.      The number of unemployed persons stood at 2,891.

7.      The unemployment rate was 7.9%.

8.      The unemployment rate for Bermudians was 9.6%.

9.      The economically inactive population was 17,864 persons.

As a note, there has been a downward trend in the unemployment rate since 2014.

Lastly, I wish to stress that this Government remains committed to investing in our people, encouraging small business development and growing our economy, despite the challenges that we face.

In closing, I want to say ‘thank you’ to all those who took part and completed the survey when contacted by interviewers.

The 2020 labour force survey can be downloaded from www.gov.bm, and the public is advised to read the technical note and the concepts and definitions on pages three through six prior to reviewing the data.

Thank you.