JAMAICA’S labour market is showing signs of cooling after a period of very low unemployment, with new data from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) showing fewer people employed, fewer people active in the job market, and a modest rise in the jobless rate.

The data, released Tuesday, showed the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent, up from 3.3 per cent in April last year. Employment fell by 25,700 people to 1,418,800, while the number of unemployed people rose by 5,000 to 55,000.

The labour force also shrank. It fell by 20,500 people from a year earlier to 1,473,900 in April. The labour force counts people who are working, as well as those looking for work and available to take a job. So, when it falls it means fewer people are taking part in the job market — not just that fewer people have jobs.

The number of people outside the labour force also rose by 20,500 to 681,900. People outside the labour force are not counted as unemployed because they are not actively seeking or available for work during the period measured. That is why the jobless rate does not tell the full story by itself. The unemployment rate rose by just 0.4 percentage point, even as employment fell, participation slipped, and more people were outside the labour force.

Women accounted for most of the fall in employment.

Female employment fell by 17,000 to 657,900, while male employment declined by 8,500 to 761,000. The female unemployment rate rose to 4.9 per cent, compared with 2.7 per cent among males.

Young workers also faced a tougher job market.

Statin said youth employment fell 9.1 per cent from a year earlier to 158,700. The number of unemployed youth rose to 21,000, pushing the youth unemployment rate to 11.7 per cent, up from 10.1 per cent.

Among young women, the unemployment rate was higher, at 14 per cent, compared with 9.9 per cent among young men.

The largest job losses were in areas closely tied to household incomes and day-to-day economic activity.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing recorded the biggest employment decline, down 12,700. Real estate and other business services fell by 9,200, while wholesale and retail trade, including repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, declined by 7,100.

Regarding type of work, the largest losses were among services and sales workers; clerical support workers; and skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers. Those are jobs tied to farms, shops, offices, sales counters and other service-based work.

Jamaica’s labour market softened in April as employment fell, labour force participation declined, and unemployment edged up to 3.7 per cent, according to Statin.

Still, the April figures were not weak across the board. Compared with January, employment rose by 29,400, the labour force grew by 32,900, and the number of people outside the labour force fell by 32,900.

But that improvement did not erase the weakness compared with last year. Against April 2025, fewer people were employed, fewer people were active in the job market, and unemployment was higher.

Statin also noted that the April survey continued to use a shortened version of its standard Labour Force Survey questionnaire in selected areas of St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St James, Hanover and Trelawny because of continuing disruptions following Hurricane Melissa.

The agriculture decline should be read alongside that caveat. Statin reported the largest employment fall in agriculture, forestry and fishing, while also saying some western parishes remain affected by storm-related survey disruptions. The documents do not show how much of the agriculture decline came from those parishes, so the two points should be treated as context rather than proof of a direct link.

The shortened questionnaire also means some usual labour market indicators could not be produced for the quarter. Broader measures such as underemployment, informal employment, and some labour underutilisation indicators were not available for April.