Unemployment rate falls to 3% in first half of 2022

The Economics and Statistics Office has estimated an unemployment rate of just 3% in the first half of this year as the Cayman Islands reopened for tourism.

Based on the Spring Labour Force Survey, unemployment has declined significantly from the 5.7% measured during the 2021 census at the end of last year.

Caymanian unemployment dropped from 8.5% to 5.1% in the first six months of 2022.

The unemployment rate for non-Caymanians fell to just 1.1% from 2.8%, while 4.8% of all permanent residents were unemployed, down from 6.2% at the time of the census.

The fall in unemployment coincided with a massive increase in Cayman’s population.

The survey estimated a 10.5% population jump to 78,554 in only six months since the census. The non-Caymanian population is believed to have increased by a quarter (25.1%) to 33,373.

The estimated labour force also increased by 11.7% to 54,398.

The data shows that the unemployment decline is not just the statistical result of the labour force growth.

The number of unemployed Caymanians fell by 725 to 1,140, while the number of unemployed non-Caymanians and permanent residents dropped by 410 to 494.

Conversely, employed Caymanians were estimated at 21,299, an increase of 5.7% compared to the 2021 census estimate.

Speaking on the Cayman Compass Facebook talk show ‘The Resh Hour’ last month, Deputy Premier Chris Saunders said the overall unemployment rate of 3% “buried” a Caymanian unemployment rate of 5.1%, which was far too high and above the natural rate of unemployment. “So we need to get that number down,” he added.

Saunders also noted that 905 Caymanians were underemployed. “We need to make sure that we provide opportunities and make sure that we have a system to give those Caymanians opportunities,” he said.

Based on the survey’s population estimate, Caymanians now make up 48.9% of the population and 41.3% of the labour force, compared with 53.5% and 45.7%, respectively, at the time of the census.