Cayman’s Employment and Labour Force Grew in the First Half of 2017

The Cayman Islands total labour force reached 43,545 persons as at end June 2017, representing an increase of 1,290 persons or 3.1 percent from the same period in 2016.

Of the total labour force, 41,764 persons or 95.9 percent were employed while 1,780 persons or 4.1 percent were unemployed. Relative to the first half of 2016, total employment was greater by 1,134 persons (or 2.8%). Employment among Caymanians grew by 2.4% (or 451 persons). Non-Caymanian employment also rose by 7.7% (1,382 persons) while that of Permanent Residents with rights to work dropped by 18.0% (699 persons).

Most of the employed persons (11,869 or 29.4%) worked in businesses with 1 - 5 employees and 10,601 persons or 26.2 percent worked in businesses with 50 or more employees. The highest proportion of Caymanians (35.1%) and PR-WRW (30.8%) were employed by large businesses employing 50 or more persons. The highest proportion of Non-Caymanians (31.3%) was employed by micro businesses employing 1-5 persons. 

The unemployed in the first half of 2017 comprised of 1,277 Caymanians (or 71.7% of the total);  159 PR with rights to work (8.9%), and 345 Non-Caymanians (19.4%) The overall unemployment rate is estimated at 4.1% which is higher compared to 3.8 in the same period of 2016, but an improvement over the 4.3 percent estimated for the second half of 2016.  The Caymanian unemployment rate rose to 6.2% in Spring 2017 from 5.7% in Spring 2016, but improved relative to the 7.0% in Fall 2016.

The majority (87.2%) of the unemployed stated they had previous jobs, of these only 1.5 percent have been without work for more than one year. Among the unemployed Caymanians, 1,182 (92.6%) had previous jobs while 71 (5.6%) never had a job; only 2.0 percent of those with previous jobs were unemployed for more than a year.