Central Bank's Stance on Barbados Unemployment Statistics Clarified by Economist Anthony Wood

In an article entitled Governor sticking to jobless numbers published in Nation News on Thursday, October 31, 2024, it was erroneously conveyed that economist Anthony Wood questioned the veracity of the unemployment statistics compiled by the Barbados Statistical Service (BSS).

Indeed, during the presentation of the economic report for the first nine months of the year, Central Bank Governor Dr Kevin Greenidge explained that the Central Bank sourced the unemployment data from the BSS, and the methodology employed by that institution to collect the unemployment statistics remained unchanged.

Those two points are well known by economists in Barbados.

Let me state for the public record that at no time did I question the authenticity of the unemployment data provided by the BSS. As a former lecturer in Economic Statistics at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, I am extremely familiar with the rigorous survey methodology employed by the BSS to collect data on the labour market.

In an article entitled Central Bank has some explaining to do published in Nation News on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, I asked the Central Bank to explain the atypical situation of the co-existence of increased economic growth and increased unemployment during the second quarter of 2024. Such a request was supported by Professor Emeritus Michael Howard in a subsequent article entitled Awaiting adequate reply from Central Bank.

The question must, therefore, be asked: Why did the Central Bank Governor not use the opportune stage to provide the requested explanation for the unusual relationship between increased economic growth and increased unemployment during the second quarter of this year?

We welcome the Central Bank Governor’s restatement of the Bank’s confidence in the work of the BSS and his explanation for the decline in the unemployment rate at June 30, 2024 compared to June 30, 2023. However, he is reminded that the explanation requested by Professor Michael Howard and myself remains outstanding.

Anthony P. Wood