THE number of applications received by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security for permits to work in Jamaica, declined by 158 or 7.2 per cent, from 2,193 in the 2008/09 fiscal year to 2,035 in the 2009/10.

This is according to the Ministry’s 2009/10 report, which was tabled in the House of Representatives recently.

Of the 2,035 applications received during the review period, new applications accounted for 47.4 per cent, with the largest number of requests, of 542, received in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the number of approvals declined by 24.6 per cent, from 4,680 to 3,529, while refusals declined by 23.4 per cent.

“All but five of the persons refused work permits submitted new applications. Approximately 51.5 per cent of the work permits approved were for new applicants. The largest number of applications was approved in the second quarter of the financial year (July to September),” the document stated.

Persons receiving work permits were from North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Asia had the largest number of recipients with 1,901 or 53.9 per cent of the total, with 538 permits going to Europeans.

Meanwhile, work permit exceptions grew by 2.8 per cent, from 1,810 in the 2008/09 financial year to 1,860 in the 2009/10 fiscal year. Persons employed by statutory bodies/ government received the largest number of exemptions with 444 or 23.9 per cent.

Also, a total of 2,115 work permits were approved for the wholesale, retail, hotel and restaurant services industry, while the construction and installation sector followed with 426 or 12.1 per cent. The sector which received the smallest number of work permits was mining and quarrying with 15 or less than one per cent of the total.