Jamaica’s labor market demonstrated resilience with unemployment declining to 3.3% in October 2025, showing improvement from the 3.5% rate recorded during the same period in 2024. The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) disclosed these findings in its latest Labour Force Survey released Thursday, providing crucial insights into the nation’s employment landscape.
The report indicates relative stability in employment levels with 1,413,200 persons employed in October 2025, representing a marginal decrease of 3,800 individuals compared to the previous year. Concurrently, the number of unemployed persons decreased from 51,300 to 48,800, contributing to the improved unemployment rate.
Notably, Jamaica’s labor force experienced a contraction, falling by 6,300 individuals to reach 1,462,000. This decline manifested differently across genders, with the male labor force decreasing by 11,900 to 777,200, while the female labor force expanded by 5,600 to 684,800. The overall labor force participation rate consequently edged down to 67.8% from 68.1% in October 2024.
The survey also recorded 693,800 individuals outside the labor force, marking an increase of 6,300 persons year-over-year.
STATIN emphasized that these statistics capture Jamaica’s labor market conditions immediately preceding Hurricane Melissa’s landfall on October 28, 2025. The catastrophic weather event significantly disrupted data collection operations, particularly in western parishes including St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St James, Hanover, and Trelawny.
In response to these challenges, STATIN implemented modified methodologies, deploying an abbreviated version of its standard questionnaire to maintain data continuity while capturing essential labor market indicators. The institution extended both data collection and processing timelines by two weeks beyond the typical six-week period due to the hurricane’s extensive impact on field operations.