Results from a World Bank study has revealed that employment within the Caribbean has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

The results extracted from the latest World Bank High-Frequency Phone Survey (HFPS) done in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) among 24 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) found that despite the marginal signs of recovery seen since 2021, “employment in the Caribbean still remains six percentage points below pre-pandemic levels — an almost two percentage points larger gap than for the LAC region as a whole.”

“Many workers have also left the labour force altogether after becoming unemployed. In the Caribbean, 9 per cent of the pre-pandemic workers report that they no longer work, and 16 per cent have exited the labour force,” the report stated.

The study undertaken in two phases last year further found that even as recovery continues across a number of these countries, albeit at a slower and uneven pace, it was accompanied by deteriorating job qualities.

“Informality has increased in all the countries in the Caribbean,” the report stated, highlighting Haiti as having the highest growth in informality when compared to the pre-pandemic period. Other countries such as St Lucia, Belize, Guyana, Dominica and Jamaica also reflected slight growth in informality, but at similar levels.

According to the report people have also been found working fewer hours since the pandemic, which they believe could impact labour income, resulting in reduced purchasing power.

According to the findings, households able to cover their basic needs were found to be in the minority. Haiti had the lowest rate at 11 per cent followed by Jamaica at 30 per cent, Guyana 36 per cent, St Lucia 42 per cent with Dominica and Belize at 43 per cent. On average approximately 46 per cent of LAC households were found able to cover their most basic needs.

“Women have been more affected by job losses, contributing to increased employment gender gaps in the region. By December 2021, women were less likely than men to be employed,” the study also found.

Other findings of the survey reported sharp rises for food insecurity within the Caribbean, this it said came as a result of rising food and fuel prices, high transport cost along with the region’s high dependence on imports.

“In most countries in the Caribbean, more than 80 per cent of food consumption depends on imports. Increases in food prices usually hit the poor and vulnerable the hardest,” the report outlined.

With concerns around food insecurity becoming more aggravated this year, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) through its ’25 in 5′ has been ramping up efforts to galvanise investment in regional agriculture to reduce the increasing food import bill which currently is estimated at US$6 billion by 25 per cent. The regional body in taking steps to boost agriculture production, remove trade barriers and enable reliable intra-regional transport of goods, it could achieve this objective by 2025.