Persons outside labour force surge in Melissa-hit parishes

Some 30,100 fewer persons were employed as of January 2026 compared to the year before, and Jamaica’s labour force also fell by 33,000 during the same period, according to key indicators from the January 2026 Labour Force Survey (LFS) released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) on Tuesday (March 31). “These shifts resulted in an unemployment rate of 3.6 per cent relative to 3.7 per cent in January 2025,” stated STATIN in its release.