GUADELOUPE - Employment
Employment growth both for employees and self-employed
Like France?s other overseas départements Guadeloupe receives specific provisions to support economic activity and employment. Tax exemption measures for investment (the Pons Act), in force since 1986, have in particular encouraged a strong increase in hotel capacity in Guadeloupe, but also in Saint-Martin and in Saint-Barthélemy. Since 1994, the Perben Act directly encourages employment via specific assistance contracts, and indirectly by exemption from social security payments. Today the Act for overseas orientation has the same objectives.
Since 1998, after a period of stagnation, employment progressed more quickly than the working population. From 1996 to 2001 employment increased on average by 2.8% per year. At the beginning of 2001 there were 132 000 jobs in Guadeloupe compared to 115 000 at the start of 1996. The increase in employment in Guadeloupe was higher than in any region in metropolitan France and the second highest increase in France after the overseas département Réunion (3.1% per year). The increase in employment in Guadeloupe was due to a relatively high increase the number of self-employed (+3.4% on average per year) and in the number of employees (+2.8% on average per year). The share of self-employed in the total number of person employed was 16.1% in 1996 and in 2001 it was 16.4%. Guadeloupe was the only region of France to maintain the level of self-employed. In all the other regions of France the share of self-employed dropped over this period.
85% of employees work the services sector
Over the course of 40 years, the Guadeloupe economy has been given a face-lift, as the arrival of services activities spelt the end of the traditional dominance by agriculture. Agriculture retains a presence with bananas and sugar-cane, while the building trade and public works make up the bulk of the secondary sector. At the beginning of 2001 85% of all employees in Guadeloupe worked in the services sector. Nearly half of these in non-market services, such as public administration, education, health, and social services. This apparent overemphasis on employment in the non-market sector in relation to the population is mainly due to the weakness of agriculture and industry.
In the market services sector, the majority of employees work in distributive trades (17.2%), services to households (14.5% in 2001) and services to businesses sector (11.1%).
7.1% of all employees in Guadeloupe work in industry. Over the period 1996 to 2001, the number of employees in industry increased on average by 5.2% per year. At the beginning of 2001, nearly 41% of all employees of the industrial sector (excluding the agri-food industry and energy) worked in the production of intermediate goods, 32.4% for the production of consumer goods and 26.7% worked in the production of capital goods.
At beginning of 2001 5.3% of employees worked in construction and 2.6% in agriculture.
The importance of the services sector is reflected in the high level of office workers (47.6%) in the total workforce in the private and semi private sector in 1999. And the minor role of industry is reflected in the low proportion of skilled manual workers compared to the metropolitan. In 1999 skilled manual workers in Guadeloupe accounted for 15.2% of the work force compared to 22.4% for metropolitan France.
High unemployment
Guadeloupe's main problem is still a shortage of jobs. In the 1990 population census, 31% of the working population claimed to be unemployed, and with an unemployment rate of 37%, women were worse affected than men (26%). Despite the considerable growth in the number of jobs available between 1982 and 1990 (+25%), unemployment progressed more than twice as quickly.
In recent years, the increase in employment since 1998 led to a fall in unemployment, though the rate was still 26% in March 2000. Unemployment remains a major social problem, notably for the young working population, who find it very difficult to enter the labour market.
At the end of 2001 there were 47 400 job seekers. The composition of the unemployed population has fewer young people and a high level of long-term unemployed. In view of the difficulties involved in finding a job, the younger generations are delaying their entry to the labour market by continuing their education or looking for work elsewhere. Those aged between 15 and 24 years accounted for 13.1% of all job seekers in Guadeloupe, whereas the metropolitan average was 20%. Women in Guadeloupe are more affected by unemployment. At the end of 2001 they represented 56% of all job seekers, whereas at the national scale the number of job seekers are equally divided between the sexes. Nearly one out of every two job seekers (48%) has been looking for work for more than one year. This rate is one of the highest in France (31% for metropolitan France). In Guadeloupe 28% of job seekers aged between 15 and 24 year olds have been seeking work for more than a year.
The average net wage paid in 1999 by private and semi-public sector employers in Guadeloupe was 16 695 Euro per year, 7% lower than the national average, but roughly 100 Euro more than the average for the provinces of the metropolitan.
Low gross disposable income
The average household in Guadeloupe had a gross disposable income 37% lower than the national average in 1997, with 8 490 Euro per capita. Partly due to high unemployment the inequalities of incomes are stronger that at the national level. Only 24% of taxable households are taxed in their income and one inhabitant out of fifteen gets the minimum social revenue from the state.
Already high, single parent families have become even more numerous: nearly 4 families out of ten are single parent families. In 1999 65% of babies were born out of wedlock, compared to the national average of 43%.
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