Guyana Labour Force Survey launches first quarter bulletin

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DPI, Guyana, Thursday, March 15, 2018

The government, in collaboration with the Bureau of Statistics, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other local and international stakeholders, today launched the Guyana Labour Force Survey (LFS) Bulletin, to track labour market dynamics in the country on a quarterly basis.

The report summarises the findings and indicators of the labour market for the first quarter of 2017 and also provides a snapshot of the labour market for policymakers and general stakeholders.

Acting Deputy Chief Statistician of the Bureau of Statistics, Ian Manifold hands over a copy of the LFS Bulletin to Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Hector Butts.

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Hector Butts said the LFS bulletin is critical since its data will aid in objective decision-making. “To have such statistics, it can serve two major purposes, first at the level of managing microeconomic planning to determine the impact of labour in the generation of wealth in Guyana.”

Dr. Butts continued, “second, at the career planning level to permit youths and others to affect career planning against the background of projected needs for skills, based on both replacement of persons and demand for new labour via natural growth and innovation in the economy”.

Dr. Butts believes the LFS quarterly bulletin will garner conversations on the effectiveness of policies towards labour, and the labour force. The Permanent Secretary said he fully expects the University of Guyana and academia, in general, to exploit the availability of the current labour force data to expand their knowledge of the dynamics of the labour force market.

“Likewise, our trade unions should utilise these statistics so the burdening process for enhancing employee benefits can be based more on reliable statistics,” Dr. Butts opined.

He encouraged that labour force statistics be collected and processed consistently overtime and assured the Bureau of Statistics and other international and local stakeholders of the government’s support for a continuous quarterly labour force survey.

Inter-American Development Bank Country Representative, Sophie Makonnen.

Acting Deputy Chief Statistician of the Bureau of Statistics, Ian Manifold explained that the unemployment rate, size of the labour force and the participation rate among others factors (which are listed in the bulletin) form part of the Bureau’s new activities; since the coverage of the labour force was not accurately recorded under the decennial censuses and intercensal surveys.

He noted with the current labour force survey all the major indicators pertaining to labour will be addressed and information will be provided on a quarterly basis.

“We no longer have to wait every ten years when a census is conducted to have information on the labour force…we are not doing continue labour force collection and will be able to give quarterly pictures of the situation of Guyana’s Labour Force,” said Manifold.

He noted with the advent of oil production in the country, the need for market planning indicators will increase, and LFS will be providing such information.

IDB Country Representative, Sophie Makonnen reiterated continuous surveys are key in policymaking and are one of the main tools to track labour market dynamics. She said, “more than ever Guyana needs to match the supply of its labour with the current and future demand for labour, in ensuring they have the skills for the jobs out there”.

She guaranteed the IDB’s continued support to the Bureau of Statistics and the Government of Guyana on the quarterly Labour Force Survey.

Guyana joins with Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago as countries conducting continuous labour force surveys in CARICOM.

Part of the audience at the launch of Guyana Labour Force Survey Bulletin.

 

By: Crystal Stoll

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