Anguilla - Preliminary Country Poverty Assessment Findings Labour Force Information

Unemployment rated measured at 1.5% - Slightly higher in women than in men.

(The Valley - Anguilla) - The latest Anguilla Country Poverty Assessment project, which was conducted under the theme; Information for Action – Improvement for All was a very intensive and comprehensive one. It consisted of four (4) interlocking components: The Survey of Living Conditions - SLC, Participatory Poverty Assessment - PPA, Macro Economic Analysis - MA and Institutional Analysis - IS which sought to look at the economy Data from the Survey of Living Conditions which was one of the components of the Country Poverty Assessment shows that the unemployment rate was 1.5% in 2008. This was the lowest since measured in May 2001 when it was 6.7% and in July 2002 when it was 7.8%.

Labour Force

The labour force stood at 9,025 persons of which 8,890 (98.5%) were employed and 135(1.5%) were unemployed. Of the 8,890 persons 4,235 were females and 4,655 were males. The term ‘labour force’ or ‘economically active’ as defined by the international standard and used in statistical literature is the sum of employed and unemployed.

Unemployed persons include only those persons who are without work, currently available for work and seeking work. The unemployment rate stood at 1.5%, with the rate among women (1.7%) being slightly higher than the overall rate and that for men of 1.3%.

Table 1: Employed and Unemployed Persons by Sex

A more detailed report, including labour force by industry and socio-economic status among other variables will be released upon completion of the project. Prior to the finalisation of the report, the consultants will prepare a draft country report and conduct an interagency review meeting with representation from the sponsors of the project; the Caribbean Development Bank and the Government of Anguilla.

The Survey of Living Conditions was moderately successful and this was due to the cooperation of householders and the hard work of the interviewers. It should be noted that the period of collection spanned more than two weeks which is the usual time period due to the reluctance of many householders to assist in providing the data.

It should be noted that the data emanating from the Survey of Living Conditions and the Household Income and Expenditure component would provide data to:

• Measure Anguilla’s progress with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s).
• Assist in the creation of a new basket of goods and services for the Anguilla Consumer Price Index (AXACPI).
• Assist in policy development in areas such as; education, labour, housing and minimum wage.

Members of the public will get the opportunity to once again contribute to the process during the National Consultations.