SIB Reports Unemployment Drops to 2.1%

Unemployment is down—this is the latest update on the labor force from the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB). Yesterday, the SIB released the second of two labor force surveys conducted this year, showing that unemployment stood at 2.1 percent, down from 3.9 percent earlier in the year. According to the SIB, when the survey was conducted in September, it was found that over 1,700 people had found jobs, while over 1,400 people left the labor force entirely. The gender disparity in labor force participation continues, with almost 70 percent of men participating compared to just over 43 percent of women. This gap is often attributed to domestic responsibilities and family care. The SIB estimates that, as of September, over 162,000 people were employed, an increase of more than 1,700 compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, over 3,400 people were unemployed and actively looking for work. While these figures appear to be good news heading into Christmas, the data has been criticized by members of the public for being out of touch with street-level realities. Director General of the SIB, Diana Castillo, acknowledges that there may be misconceptions regarding the definitions of unemployment, particularly between those who are unemployed and actively looking for work and those who are not. 

Diana Castillo, Director General, SIB: “The data that we produce is put out there for all our data users to use how they see best. We encourage our data users of all types, not just government, but other types of data users, the media, the public, businesses, to try and take a closer look at the data, to get in contact with us if we can clarify more and contribute to their understanding of the data so they’re able to use it in a meaningful way. Yes, I understand that there is a disconnect between what is perceived as persons who are unemployed and what the definition is. The SIB utilizes strict definitions as per international standards for compiling labor statistics and so these are what the definitions are. So what we are doing now, as I said, is we are doing more analysis on the persons not actively engaged in the labor force to give a clearer picture of what these persons might be doing with their time otherwise, and even perhaps for policymakers to provide some insights as to how they could induce persons to want to participate more in the labour force.”

The SIB conducts the Labor Force Survey twice a year, in April and September, to account for changes due to seasonal employment.