FEMALES continue to dominate Jamaica’s employed labour force, contributing 79.2 per cent of the increase in employment for the July 2022 quarter.

According to the July 2022 Labour Force Survey released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) on Tuesday, 42,200 more females were employed in the period, mainly in the occupation groups ‘service workers and shop and market sales workers’ and the industry group ‘real estate and the other business services’.

“There were 579,500 employed females in July compared to 537,500 in the similar quarter of 2021,” said Director General, Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) Carol Coy during the institute’s virtual quarterly press briefing.

She noted that youth employment also showed strong growth, with employed youth aged 14 to 24 years increasing by 18,800. Females, again, accounted for the majority of the increase.

“Of this increase, females 20 to 24 years [old] accounted for 80.3 per cent or 15,100,” the director general said.

Coy said that, of note, clerks, service workers, and shop and market sales workers plus craft and related trades workers were the occupation groups that had the largest increases in employment.

“A comparison of the July quarters of 2022 and 2021 showed that the group clerks, which includes customer service clerks, contact centre information clerks, and enquiry clerks, increased by 25,400 to 132,200. This was the largest increase in employment among occupation groups, with females accounting for the majority of the increase, 16,100 or 63.4 per cent,” she said.

She said the occupation group service workers and shop and market sales workers increased by 21,400, moving to 290,700. Again, females accounted for the larger increase of 18,100 or 84.6 per cent.

“Within this group there are personal service workers, such as waiters, bartenders and hairdressers, and also sales workers, such as street food vendor, store/supermarket/shop clerk, and cashier and ticket clerks,” Coy said.

Females again accounted for the largest increase in employment in real estate and renting and business activities and accommodation and food service activities industries.

“Employment in the real estate and renting and business activities (which includes administrative and support service activities, such as call centres, packaging, and general cleaning of buildings activities) increased by 21,700. Of this increase, females accounted for more than three-quarters, 16,800 (77.4 per cent). Accommodation and food services had the second-largest increase — 12,400, of which 11,200 or 90.3 per cent were females,” Coy noted.

There were 1,268,000 employed people in July, which saw an overall increase of 53,000 or 4.4 per cent compared to July 2021.

The July 2022 Labour Force Survey was conducted during the period July to September, with the reference week being June 19 to 25.