Avia Collinder, Sunday Gleaner Writer

In this June 2005 photo, staff at Rib Kage Bar and Grill on Constant Spring Road in St. Andrew are preparing mouthwatering dishes. A recent report says there has been an increase in these types of jobs. - File

Low wages in areas of new employment have been contributing to falling job-seeking rates and an increase in the sector of the Jamaican population characterised as outside the labour force.

According to the 2006 edition of the Social and Economic Survey prepared by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), the largest group of those listed as being outside the labour force were respondents who 'did not want to work'.

This group comprised 49.5 per cent or 338,100 of those defined as outside the labour force. The numbers represent an absolute increase over 2005, when 336,400 fell into this category.

Labour-force increase

While the last survey shows that the labour force increased by 3.5 per cent, the new opportunities were mostly in the low-paying 'wholesale and retail trades, hotels and restaurant services sector'. The lowest average earnings, $8,947 weekly, were reported in this sector, compared to mining at the top end with $23,985.

In January 2006, the national minimum wage was increased by 20 per cent to $2,800 for a 40-hour work week. The minimum wage for security guards was also increased by 12.5 per cent to $4,140 per week. But, these were pay rates, which many Jamaicans appeared to find unacceptable. (See table.)

Fall in job-seeking rate

The job-seeking rate, which measures the proportion of the population actively seeking employment, declined in 2005 by 0.7 per cent to 5.4 per. For males, the job-seeking rate fell to a new low of 3.9 per cent, while for females it also fell to 7.5 per cent.

Matthew Green, field officer with STATIN, says there might be a connection between the data and the low wages in areas where work is increasingly available. "We speak to people and they say that, personally speaking 'the money is too small, me can't work fe dem money deh'," he said. This response was mostly from men.

He says, however, that among this group are 'hustlers'. "They might also be buying and selling, or go into the bus parks and load passengers on to buses.They charge a fee for loading ... They believe within themselves that this is better than working in a store," he explains.

avia.ustanny@gleanerjm.com.