JANUARY 2025 (Q1) Quarterly Labour Force Survey Highlights

NASSAU, September 17, 2025.The Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI) is pleased to present the key indicators from the January 2025 Labour Force Survey (LFS), the third release of the second revision of the survey.  

Highlights from the January 2025 Labour Force Survey:

Labour Force Participation:

The total labour force in January was 240,650 individuals: 121,565 males (50.5%) and 119, 085 females (49.5%.) The overall labour force participation rate was 76.0 per cent.  Males had a higher participation rate of 80.4 per cent compared to 72.0 per cent for females.

Employment:

The total number of employed persons was 214,725, with males comprising more than half (108.935 or 50.7%) of the employed labour force.  Of those employed, 65,225 individuals were underemployed that is, working part-time while wanting additional hours.

The largest occupation group (table ii) was ‘Service Workers & Shop Market Sales Workers’ with 57, 685 employed individuals, accounting for slightly more than one-fourth (26.9%) of the total employed population. This group had the largest number of employed females, 33,880. The second largest occupational group was ‘Professional, Science & Engineering Professionals’ with 46,835 workers, followed by ‘Craft and Related Workers, Plant & Machine Operators & Assemblers’ with 35,120 employed persons. This occupational group had the largest employment of males, 31,615. 

The largest employer among industry groups (table iii) was ‘Community, Social & Personal Services’ employing 78,375 individuals, representing 37 per cent of the total workforce. There were 48,720 females employed in this industry group accounting for 46.0 percent. The second largest industry group was ‘Hotels and Restaurants’, which employed 41,260 persons. The industrial group ‘Community, Social & Personal Services’ had the largest employment of males, 29,655.

When the data was examined by qualifications, some very interesting facts were discovered. The proportion of women with degree, outnumbered men by nearly two to one. Conversely, a larger proportion of men (28%) than females (17%) had no qualification.

Unemployment:

The total number of unemployed individuals in January 2025 was 25,925, with females making up 51.3 per cent. Among the unemployed, 6,960 were youth aged 15 to 24 years, almost evenly distributed by sex.
The unemployment rate for January 2025, was 10.8 per cent. The female unemployment rate was higher at 11.2 per cent, while the unemployment rate for males 10.4 per cent. The youth unemployment rate was 20.9 per cent, with the unemployment rate for young adult females at 21.7 per cent and for young adult males it was 20.3 per cent.
Nationally, women aged 20 to 44 and 45 t0 54 were more likely to be unemployed than their male counterpart (chart). By contrast, men aged 25-44 were slightly more likely to be unemployed when compared with women within their same age cohort.