‘Unemployment cut by half’ – President says wages up over 100% in key sectors

Feb 04, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – President Irfaan Ali says Guyana’s unemployment rate has fallen by more than 50 percent since 2020, wages have climbed sharply across major industries, and inflation remains among the lowest globally. The Head of State made the disclosure during a Facebook Live broadcast on Tuesday, linking the country’s improving labour indicators to sustained economic growth and diversification.

Citing figures from the latest labour force bulletin issued by the Bureau of Statistics, President Ali noted that unemployment declined significantly between 2020 and 2024. “If you look at the period 2020 to 2024, unemployment fell from 12.8%to 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2024,” Ali said.

Analysing the 6.8 per cent unemployment rate, the President explained that a portion of unemployed persons are selective about the type of work they are willing to accept, particularly in sectors such as construction and operations. “The fact the fact is our unemployment reduced by more than 50% between 2020 and 2024. Now what is also important is a reduction of our female unemployment rate. Our female unemployment rate reduced from 14.4% to less than 9%,” he stated.

According to Ali, unemployment rates are also fairly balanced across Guyana’s regions, reflecting job creation beyond urban centres. “So, it is not to say that the jobs are only created in urban centers. When you look at the distribution of jobs and the analytics behind unemployment rates, you will see that it is evenly distributed in rural and urban centers,” Ali said.

President Ali further pointed to a strong correlation between government policies, employment, investment and economic growth. He disclosed that between the first quarter of 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2024, more than 104,000 new jobs were created.

“So, persons employed moved from 264,000 to almost 370,000 in the last quarter of 2024. That is more persons in the labour force because there are more jobs available, because the economy is growing,” Ali stated.

He added that unemployment rates across key categories women, men, rural and urban are now almost equal, reflecting what he described as stronger labour absorption. Ali also noted that declining youth unemployment points to improved integration of young people into the workforce.

Beyond job creation, President Ali said average earnings have increased significantly across major sectors between 2020 and 2024, with wage growth ranging between 50 percent and over 100 percent.

He outlined that the highest growth in earnings occurred in agriculture, forestry and fishing at 84 percent, followed by mining and quarrying at 59 percent, manufacturing at 57 percent, electricity, gas and steam at 61 percent, construction at 71 percent, wholesale and retail trade at 69 percent, transportation and storage at 62 percent, information and communication at 88 percent, professional scientific and technical services at over 100 percent, health and social work at 63 percent, arts, entertainment and recreation at over 114 percent, and other services at 112 percent.

“Look at the distribution of the growth rate in earnings. It follows the distribution also of the economy, the diversification of the economy and the structure of our employment over the last four years. There is no other economy that is more diversified. There is no other structural growth in employment and earning like we have in Guyana,” Ali noted.

President Ali noted that rising wages have not triggered the level of inflation seen globally, noting that Guyana continues to record one of the lowest inflation rates. “We still manage to see the lowest inflation rate,” he said.

He also referenced a labour assessment conducted by the Centre for Local Business Development, which shows Guyana is short of 52,396 workers. He added that the International Organisation for Migration estimates that even if all unemployed and discouraged workers were absorbed, the available labour pool would be about 63,000 in the medium term. “It goes on to state that Guyana will need approximately 160,000 workers and concludes that Guyana will need a minimum of 100,000 workers to realise the growth agenda that this government is pursuing,” Ali stated.

Responding to criticisms about unemployment figures, Ali dismissed detractors, saying, “These parrots don’t read. All they do is parroting.  They don’t read. They don’t analyse reports. They don’t look at the facts. They don’t look at statistics because it does not suit their agenda. Their agenda is a simplistic agenda devoid of facts devoid of the reality, devoid of an analysis and frankly speaking maybe incapable of making the analysis that is glaring in every single report.”

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• labour sectors, President Irfaan Ali, unemployment, unemployment rate

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