October 1, 2026
Overview
The July 2026 Labour Force Survey (LFS), with a reference week of July 5–11, 2026, shows a labour market that is still adjusting after Hurricane Melissa. Employment and labour force participation both fell year over year, and more people moved outside the labour force. Because the drop in employment was matched almost one-for-one by people leaving the labour force, the unemployment rate stayed relatively stable at 3.4%. This was up only slightly from 3.3% in July 2025.
Employment
A total of 1,419,200 persons were employed in July 2026. This was a decline of 21,900 (1.5%) compared with July 2025. Women accounted for most of the losses. Female employment fell by 13,300 to 652,200, while male employment fell by 8,600 to 767,000. Youth employment fell more sharply: 169,500 young people were employed, 6.4% fewer than a year earlier.
Sector and Nature of Employment
For the first time, STATIN published estimates of formal and informal employment from the revised LFS, prepared under the latest international standards for measuring informality.
By sector of employment, 50.4% of workers (715,400) were in the formal sector. Another 47.3% (671,700) were in the informal sector, and 2.3% (32,100) were in household own-use and community (HOC) activities. All three sectors shrank compared with July 2025. The informal sector fell by 12,300, the formal sector by 6,900 and the HOC sector by 2,700.
By the nature of the job, the picture is less favourable. Formal employment fell by 24,000 to 621,800, or 43.8% of all employed persons. Informal employment rose by 2,100 to 797,400. As a result, the informal employment rate rose to 56.2% from 55.2% a year earlier. Informality was much higher among men (63.1%) than among women (48.0%). Even within the formal sector, where 86.9% of workers held formal jobs, 93,600 persons were in informal employment.
Unemployment
The unemployment rate was 3.4%, compared with 3.3% in July 2025. This implies about 49,300 unemployed persons, essentially unchanged from a year earlier. The male unemployment rate was 2.6% and the female rate was 4.2%. Youth unemployment improved, falling by 2,300 to 18,200, which gave a youth unemployment rate of 9.7%. However, the lower youth figure largely reflects young people leaving the labour force rather than finding work.
Labour Force Participation
The total labour force stood at 1,468,500, down 21,800 from July 2025. The labour force participation rate fell to 68.1% from 69.1%, a decline of 1.0 percentage point. The female labour force contracted more sharply, falling by 15,100 to 680,800. The male labour force fell by 6,700 to 787,700.
Persons Outside the Labour Force
The number of persons outside the labour force rose by 21,800 to 687,300. Females outside the labour force increased by 15,100 and males by 6,700. Most of this increase came from youth, with an additional 14,800 young people exiting the labour force.
Methodology Note
July 2026 is the first quarter since Hurricane Melissa in which STATIN used the full LFS questionnaire in all parishes. In the October 2025 and January 2026 rounds, an abridged version was used in the western parishes. This allows all standard indicators to be compared with the corresponding quarter of 2025. The quarter also marks the first official release of formal and informal employment estimates from the revised LFS.
Source: Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) | www.statinja.gov.jm
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