REVIEW OF THE ECONOMY 2013
33
SUSTAINING GROWTH, SECURING PROSPERITY
Miscellaneous Manufacturing (12.2 percent);
Water (6.9 percent); Printing, Publishing and
Paper Converters (5.7 percent); Drink and
Tobacco (3.3 percent); and Petrochemicals (0.5
percent). In contrast, productivity levels fell in:
Oil and Natural Gas Refining (-49.0 percent);
Chemicals (-15.9 percent); Exploration and
Production of Oil andNatural Gas (-14.1 percent);
Textiles,Garments and Footwear (-10.4 percent);
Electricity (-2.9 percent); andWood and Related
Products (-0.4 percent). In terms of the overall
non-energy sector, productivity levels increased
by 10.5 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2013,
a marked reversal of the 4.1 percent decline
experienced in the first quarter of fiscal 2012.
POPULATION
Based on the results of its 2011 Population
and Housing Census, the Central Statistical
Office projects that the population of Trinidad
and Tobago will grow by 0.4 percent in 2013 to
1,340,557 persons, from 1,335,194 persons
in 2012. The country’s provisional birth rate
is projected to decrease from 14.83 births
per thousand persons in 2012 to 13.98 births
per thousand persons in 2013, whereas its
provisional death rate is projected to increase
to 7.74 deaths per thousand persons in 2013
from 7.21 deaths per thousand persons in 2012
(Appendix 12)
.
Young persons aged 24 years or less account
for 36.6 percent of Trinidad and Tobago’s
population, whilst those aged 60 years or more
represent 13.4 percent of the population. Exactly
half of the population are aged between 25 and
59 years
(Appendix 13)
. The composition of the
population by gender remains stable, withmales
accounting for 50.2 percent (672,596 persons),
and females 49.8 percent (667,961 persons)
(Appendix 12)
.
LABOUR FORCE AND
EMPLOYMENT
UNEMPLOYMENT
Trinidad andTobago’s unemployment rate stood
at 4.9 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2012,
down from the 5.4 percent rate recorded in the
secondquarter
(Appendix 14)
.This represented
a decline in the number of unemployed persons
from33,800 to 30,500 during the review period.
Most industries recorded unemployment rates
belowthenational average,namely:OtherMining
andQuarrying (0.0percent); Finance, Insurance,
Real Estate and Business Services (1.9 percent);
Transport, Storage and Communication (2.4
percent); Other Agriculture, Forestry, Hunting
and Fishing (3.5 percent); Other Manufacturing
(3.7percent); ElectricityandWater (4.5percent);
Wholesale and Retail Trade, Restaurants and
Hotels (4.7 percent); and Community, Social
and Personal Services (4.8 percent). In contrast,
the highest unemployment rates were recorded
in: Construction (8.7 percent); and Petroleum
and Gas (5.6 percent).
During the third quarter of fiscal 2012
approximately 49.8 percent of the unemployed
were young persons aged 15 to 29 years. This
was notably lower than the 55.3 percent share
recorded by this age group in the previous
quarter. On the other hand, the proportion of
unemployed persons aged 30 to 49 years rose
from32.8percent to38.7percent over the review
period, whilst the share of unemployed persons
aged 50 to 64 years fell from 11.5 percent to 9.8
percent
(Figure 8)
.
THE REAL ECONOMY
