NEWS: Unemployment Down, but More People Not Looking for Work

Labor department releases March 2012 Unemployment Report & June 2012 Employment Report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2012
 
First report: unemployment
Unemployment is down on Guam, but not because more people are working. The unemployment rate fell from 13.3 percent in March 2011 to 11.8 percent in March this year.
The Department of Labor conducted an unemployment survey for March 2012. The survey indicates that 8,060 Guamanians who were looking for work in March did not find work. This represents about 11.8 percent of the total number of Guamanians who were in the workforce, either working or looking for work: 68,400.
The year before that, 9,970 Guamanians were looking for work and did not find work. That represented 13.3 percent of the 74,950 people who were in the workforce.
The reason this reduction is not good news is because fewer people are looking for work even though there are more working-age citizens living on Guam. Of the 120,810 Guamanians who are 16 years of age or older, 68,400 were either working or looking for work. This means 52,410 were not working and were not looking for work.
Of these 52,410, over 80 percent of them, or 41,960 did not want a job in March. The good news is that of the remaining 10,450 who did want a job but just didn’t look for work, almost half of them were attending school: 5,200.
Second report: employment
The Department of Labor also released a separate report for a different month: the June 2012 Current Employment Report. This report shows preliminary statistics of where people are working, and gives some comparative information on wages as well.
The report shows a decrease in total employment from the previous quarter and the previous year. It also shows a decrease in private sector employment over the previous quarter and year.
The report shows a decrease in government of Guam jobs over the previous quarter, but this is mainly attributed to the roll off of seasonal employees, like teachers, who are not normally counted in the June report due to the summer break. There was, however, a significant drop in employment in the autonomous agencies over the previous quarter, but an increase of 300 jobs in the Executive branch over the previous year. This category includes employment numbers from the Department of Education.
 
Government agencies show decreased employment
 
After receiving this report the Governor’s Office contacted the Department of Administration to find out whether this increase in employment in the Executive Branch is the result of hiring in the line agencies under the Governor’s control. We have verified that employment under the Governor’s control did in fact decrease from 3,470 in June 2011 down to 3,388 in June 2012. The difference can be accounted for by Department of Education employment numbers, for which the Governor has no control. The DOA report also shows a reduction in employment at the Governor’s Office.
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