THE latest employment figures are anything but encouraging but they offer no grounds for sudden alarm, let alone desperation. Although the figures, compiled by the States Statistics Unit, show that a record number of Islanders are registered as unemployed, the patterns of unemployment underlying the total are significant and require unpicking.

However, the first thing to be said is that those who actually find themselves jobless are most unlikely to be impressed by talk of patterns and trends. To be unemployed is a deeply uncomfortable condition in any circumstances. In this generally prosperous Island it can be an even harsher challenge in psychological as well as material terms.

That said, it is important to look at the data carefully if we are to understand the scale of the problem and, more importantly, what can be done about it.
The latest statistics indicate that 1,290 people were actively seeking work in the Island at the end of October, an increase of 60 over the previous month. This is not, of course, the direction in which we should like to see the figures moving as our economy struggles to recover from the global recession.

But joblessness is not distributed evenly across the labour market. The hardest-hit groups are low-skilled workers, including cleaners, messengers and catering industry staff. In addition, the young are disproportionately represented, 41 per cent of those seeking jobs being below the age of 25. By contrast, only eight per cent of those now out of work are managers or professionals.

It would be fatuous – not to say deeply insulting – to suggest that the groups most severely affected matter less than others, but it is nevertheless true to say that the present pattern is exactly what is to be expected in the present economic circumstances. Low-skilled workers are the first to be hit by recessionary forces and the last to benefit from a recovery. Similarly, those leaving school or who are too young to have acquired valuable experience are likely to find it hard to find jobs.

But this is no counsel of despair. The young are being helped through States-funded training aimed at helping them to find work, some parts of the economy have remained strong, and the States still have money in hand to stimulate economic activity. Well spent, this will stimulate the job growth that is so clearly needed.