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.