PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago recorded an increase in the number of persons unemployed at the end of the first nine months of the year, according to the latest figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Tuesday.

It said that at the end of the third quarter of 2009, the labour force stood at 616,100, a decrease of 8, 200 or 1.3 per cent over the 624,300 recorded at the end of the second quarter.

CSA said that a decline in the female labour force of 3.5 per cent from 256,300 in the second quarter to 247,400 at the end of the third quarter accounted for the decrease in the labour force. It said that more men were employed during the same period.

The survey by CSO showed that persons with jobs decreased by 2.1 per cent between the second and third quarters to 580,200 and that when the number of persons with jobs in the third quarter is compared with data for the same period last year, a decrease of 20,600 persons or 3.4 per cent is seen.

CSO said that the increase in unemployment was observed in almost all sectors of the economy, with the wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and the hotel industry accounting for the highest number, with 7, 800 being dismissed.

The CSO said that the overall unemployment rate for Trinidad and Tobago climbed from 5.1 per cent in the second quarter 2009 to 5.8 per cent in the third quarter.

“This has been the third successive quarter of increases in the unemployment rate since the 4th Quarter 2008, when the lowest unemployment rate of 3.9 per cent was recorded,” the CSO said, noting that females contributed more to the increase in the unemployment rate than males.