Latest employment snapshot shows fewer jobs among 16-25 year-olds, and incomes up for non-Bermudians
Overall unemployment was up very slightly around this time last year – although youth unemployment had risen significantly.
That’s one key takeaway from the May 2025 Labour Force Survey, released today.
Bermudian unemployment was up by a half-percent, with underemployment on the rise.
Median gross annual incomes had shot up among non-Bermudians. Bermudian incomes had risen slightly, but black workers had seen a slight drop.
The LFS employment snapshot is published twice a year, with this report based on 1,090 household responses for a reference week in May last year.
Because this is based on estimates, Labour and Economy Minister Jason Hayward has warned not to see the numbers in the LFS as absolutes, but rather to observe the employment trends.
According to the report, from May 2024 to May 2025 unemployment rose a fraction of a percent from 1.6% to 1.7%.
Bermudian unemployment was up from 1.6% to 2.1%, while youth unemployment, ages 16 to 24, had jumped from 2.4% to 9.3%.
The overall employment rate had nudged back from 81.4% to 80.7%, with the year-on-year Labour Force participation rate down from 82.8% to 82.2%.
Underemployment, which includes those who don’t believe they are working enough hours, earning enough or in a job meeting their skills, had risen by about a third – from 1,901 to 3,048.
Overall median gross annual income was up from $73, 157 to $77,573.
Note that these figures are not adjusted for inflation.
Bermudians, about 70% of the working population, saw nearly a three-thousand dollar annual increase in median incomes from $69,912 to $72,776; non-Bermudians, including Spouses of Bermudians and PRCs, saw the average leap by nearly fifteen-thousand from $90,676 to $105,499.
Categorised by race, year-on-year median incomes among black workers fell by around two-thousand from $69,199 to $67,220; white workers saw a rise of nearly five-thousand from $98,501 to $103,358; and mixed or other races were up $9.4K from $68,002 to $77,411.
Women earned about five-thousand more than men on average, with the men’s median at $75,279, and the women’s at $80,269.
For more figures, take a look at the report below.
