Unemployment increases fivefold because of pandemic lockdown
MORE than 1,600 people were out of work at end of May, compared with 311 at the same time last year.
The latest figures have revealed a slight increase on the end of April, when 1,568 were out of work.
It shows the sharp increase in unemployment in the island during lockdown, when some people were unable to work.
At the end of March there were 497 people out of work.
An unemployment bulletin containing full details for the months of April and May is currently being finalised and is due to be published next week.
There has been a problem with the system used for collating unemployment statistics, which has meant these figures could not be released monthly, in the normal way. Work to resolve the problem and to input the outstanding data has been ongoing.
However it was decided to release the headline figures from the bulletin, as the matter was of particular interest during the Cod-19 pandemic. June figures will follow in early July.
Employment & Social Security president Michele Le Clerc said they were now getting a clearer picture of what was happening.
'Now more than ever it’s important we can see clearly what is happening in our workforce and how many people have found themselves out of work as a result of this crisis,' she said.
'Not being able to produce these figures in the normal way has been a frustration, but our team has worked hard to get out the key information as quickly as possible and the detail will follow soon.
'We will be doing more to help bring the numbers down and get more people who have lost jobs back into work. In the coming weeks we’ll be actively promoting the different ways Employment & Social Security can support jobseekers, help them identify vacancies and develop skills through various schemes.'
While unemployment figures remain high compared to the very low levels normally seen in Guernsey, it is expected that the figure will fall in June as more businesses are able to reopen.
The figures for May are likely to also include some who have already found work, but are yet to receive their first wages and will therefore still be included in the statistics.
