CBSI: we have lost more than 5, 000 jobs in the year to march
Solomon Islands has lost more than 5, 000 jobs in the formal sector in the year to March this year, the latest figures released by the Central Bank of Solomon Islands, have shown.
The figures were contained in an article titled, Unemployment in the Solomon Islands, which appears in today’s paper. The CBSI blamed the job losses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It said the proxy indicators used for employment indicated that the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF) had 55, 790 contributors in the first quarter of 2021.
This compared with the figure for the first quarter of 2020, which recorded the SINPF’s contributors at 61, 093.
“The current data compared to last year’s data shows a reduction of 5,303 contributors. This is due to an estimation of formal job losses where people become unemployed because of the impacts of COVID-19 economic fallout,” the CBSI said.
Hotel (Accommodation), Construction, Transport and Forestry industries were the hardest hit, CBSI said.
CBSI did not mention the fact that the Construction industry has picked up somewhat, due to donor-funded projects related to the 2023 Pacific Games, which Solomon Islands is hosting.
The People’s Republic of China and Japan in particular have begun multi-million dollar infrastructure projects, including road expansion and the construction of the nation’s National Stadium being funded by the Beijing Government.
In its statement, CBSI noted that the biggest employer in Solomon Islands is the public service.
A headcount of employees taken in the first quarter of this year showed there were 20,713 in the public service, it said.
It did not provide any comparison to show whether this is an increase or otherwise.
By ALFRED SASAKO
Newsroom, Honiara
