BY BEN BILUA
Gizo
THE Central Bank of Solomon Islands has estimated that 5,300 employees lost their jobs due to covid-19 last year.
Using the proxy indicator on membership contributions to Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF), CBSI found that a total of 61,093 active contributors was recorded in 2020 but this figure decreased to 55,790 in the first quarter of 2021.
In its report released on May 7, CBSI states that the current data compared to last year’s data shows a reduction of 5,300 contributors.
The report believes that people have lost jobs due to the impact of covid-19 to the country economy.
It states that the most affected sectors includes Accommodations (Hotels) Constructions, Transport and Forestry.
The report highlights that the biggest employer in the country is the public service with a total of 20,713 headcount of employees recorded in the first quarter of 2021.
The report states that actual data of unemployment is lacking in Solomon Islands as such identification of actual unemployment is difficult to pinpoint.
“Unfortunately, the country does not have unemployment statistics like in other countries. The Central Bank of Solomon Islands use proxy indicators for EMPLOYMENT data instead, when assessing the labour market,” it states.
