Slow growth in employment figures

By Joyetter Feagaimaali’i-Luamanu 30 May 2017, 12:00AM

The average, annual wage in Samoa is $5,613 for employees in the work force in Samoa. 

This is according to the Employment Statistics released by Samoa Bureau of Statistics last month. 

A copy was obtained by Samoa Observer, which indicates that total employment as of December 2016 is 24,909 who are working in the private sector and the government.

 Employment numbers as of December 2016 increased by 1.6 percent compared to the December 2015 quarter. 

This reflects the increase in employment opportunities in December 2016 in industries such as accommodation, commerce and public administration with respective increases of 333 people over the same period of the previous year. 

“Wages and Salaries for the December 2016 quarter recorded a notable increase of $110,710 million (8.6%) over its corresponding period of 2015. This was influenced mainly by the increase in wages and salaries in industries such as commerce, accommodation, finance services, public administration and health.”  

According to SBS report, the employment data was supplied by the Samoa National Provident Fund (S.N.P.F.). 

The formal employment and wage indices have recorded five consecutive quarters of positive growth as measured by their percentage change over the same period of the previous year. 

The trend in the quarterly employment index which fluctuates from December 2013 to December 2016, recorded the lowest in March 2014. “In the December 2016 quarter, the employment index recorded an increase of 1.8% over the same quarter of 2015. 

The report further indicates the estimated population employed in the formal sector in the December 2016 quarter was 24,904 and total wages amounted to about $139,749. 

In terms of quarterly average wages, males earned less than females. As shown in “male quarterly average wages amounted to $5,183 and females quarterly average wages were $6,188.” 

According to the report, there were no big differences between the average quarterly wages by sex composition for some industries such as Health, Finance services and Public Administration. 

Employment and wage indices for the year 2012-2016 has been growing steadily in the last five years and recording the highest in the year under review. In 2012 and 2013 employment have been growing at a moderate rate recording slight increases of 0.5% and 0.2% each but declined in 2014. 

“However, in the years 2015 and 2016, the employment index grew 1.8% and 1.9% respectively. The industries that made the largest contributions to the 1.9% increase in employment were commerce, construction, accommodation and public administration with increases each over the year 2015. In terms of numbers in employment, the average number of registered employees went up from 23,705 in 2013 to 24,589 in 2016. 

By Joyetter Feagaimaali’i-Luamanu 30 May 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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