Monday 22 March 2021
The total number of people unemployed in Guernsey reached 1,000 at the end of February 2021, whilst the island was in Stage 1 of its exit from lockdown framework.
This is significantly lower than the number of people unemployed during comparative stages of exit from lockdown in 2020.
Although it is difficult to draw direct comparisons between the lockdowns in 2021 and 2020 due to the different restrictions in place, the number of people unemployed during Phases 2 and 3 of lockdown in 2020 were 1,568 and 1,631 respectively.
The number of people unemployed in Guernsey increased by 205 from January 2021 to February 2021.
The total number of wholly unemployed people increased from 795 at the end of January 2021, to 1,000 at the end of February 2021, while 614 new claims for employment and income related benefits were made during February 2021. This figure compares with 490 new claims in January 2021.
The number of those who were receiving an employment or income related benefit, and who were already doing some form of work or had some income (e.g. payroll co-funding scheme) decreased from 552 in January 2021 to 506 in February 2021.
The number of job adverts promoted by the Job Centre was 101.
In Alderney there was no change in the number of people seeking employment compared with the previous month.
These figures are a snapshot taken on the on the Saturday following the end of February, when the Bailiwick was in Stage 1 of its exit from lockdown framework.
Deputy Peter Roffey, President of the Committee for Employment & Social Security, said:
"It is of course disappointing to see any increase in the number of people unemployed, but it is important to understand the context of these figures. It is encouraging to see that this month's figures are actually significantly lower than the figures from comparative phases of lockdown in 2020. Whilst being cautious about making these comparisons, this could perhaps suggest that we are seeing the benefit of a shorter period of lockdown."
