The Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS) has published its latest survey on the status of the working population of The Gambia, which reveals a labour market force of 43.6% and a population outside the labour force of 56.4%.
The survey was conducted by the Government of The Gambia in collaboration with development partners and other stakeholders to produce official national statistics on the labour force, employment and unemployment for monitoring and planning purposes.
Categorising the labour force status of the working-age population, the survey states: “On average, four in ten persons of working age are engaged in the labour market (43.6%), by either working or being unemployed. The population outside the labour force (56.4%) is composed of persons only studying (23.4%), subsistence farmers (9.4%) or persons in other situations such as elderly people, disabled, and discouraged job seekers (23.6%).”
It continued: “The labour force survey is the main source behind headline indicators of the labour market for short-term monitoring as well as more structural information on the number and characteristics of the employed, their jobs and working conditions, the job search activities of those without work, etc.”
The employment-to-population ratio informs on the share of the working-age population that is employed, the survey indicates, stating: “The employed are all those persons of working age who, during the previous week, were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services in exchange for pay or to generate profit (in cash or in-kind).”
The survey also states: “The employment-to-population ratio is 40.3 per cent and offers a similar picture to that of the labour participation rate, since the labour force mainly consists of employed persons.
“The unemployment rate stands at 7.6 per cent. The unemployed are persons of working age who (i) were not employed during the previous week preceding the date of interview, (ii) actively looked for a job in the past four weeks, (iii) have been available for a job during the previous week or in the two coming weeks after the date of interview.”
It further notes that labour force participation rate (LFPR) is higher for males (47.9%) than for females (39.6%) in all age categories. “The profile by age group shows that young people enter the labour market later due to longer education,” it explains. “The participation reaches a maximum in prime ages (35-59 years) around 60 per cent and then declines at the age of retirement. In terms of place of residence, the LFRP is much higher in urban compared to rural areas (62.6% and 37.4% respectively). This result is partly impacted by the survey period after harvesting.”