Bramble says Camillo’s employment figures are ‘utter rubbish’

East Kingstown MP, Fitz Bramble has dismissed as “utter rubbish, total nonsense” the report by Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves that unemployment in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is at its lowest since Slavery.

On May 25, Gonsalves said that low unemployment in SVG was helping to cushion the decline in remittances. 

“… there are more people employed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines today than at any point in the history of St. Vincent and the Grenadines since slavery,” he said on WE FM on Sunday.

“We have that data. I would say that we have single digits, high single-digit unemployment in this country and I would say that you probably have another low single-digit number of people who could work but don’t want to work,” the finance minister further stated.

However, in a video response posted on the New Democratic Party’s Facebook page, Bramble, an economist said Gonsalves’ “comments are utter rubbish, total nonsense, and paint a very unrealistic picture of the unemployment situation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines…

“But what baffled me is that the minister essentially is saying, or essentially said, that the only time we had higher employment in this country prior to now is during slavery.” 

He said he would give Gonsalves “the benefit of the doubt to think that he just doesn’t understand the phenomenon of slavery. 

“There was no employment during slavery. Our people were totally devastated and treated as subhumans. So the minister needs to go and retract that comment,” Bramble said, adding that the comment was not the subject of his response. 

Bramble said he was “categorically denying and refuting” Gonsalves’ comments that SVG is now experiencing the highest rate of employment in its history.

“And I would go further to say that we are experiencing the highest rate of unemployment in this country, certainly since independence in 1979.”

He said if Gonsalves was going to make “such sweeping comments and conclusions”, he must provide the evidence to support what he’s saying. 

The opposition MP said a labour force survey was last conducted in 2016, adding that Gonsalves said he had the data to support his claim and should do so.

“… produce the source of that data, who conducted whatever survey to provide that information, and was it credible, and the method that was done to provide that information. Was it an internationally accepted method?”

Bramble further noted that Gonsalves used National Insurance Service numbers as proxy data in saying that the current labour force is about 60,000 people, of which about 45,000 are employed.

“So it stands to reason that if you have a 60,000 labour force and you only have 45,000 working, then it means that 15,000 are not working,” Bramble said.

“The last time I checked, 15,000 was 25% of 60,000. So based on what the minister is saying, we really have a 25% rate of unemployment.”

Bramble also addressed the question of how the labour force is determined, adding that it is made up of people aged 15 to 64 who are either working and/or actively looking for a job. 

“So if you’re not actively seeking work, it means that you’re not in the labour force,” Bramble said.

“So, technically, the number of persons in St Vincent and the Grenadines of working age who are not working, in addition to the official unemployment rate is even higher, and there’s no mechanism in this country to determine whether or not somebody is looking for a job.”

He said the finance minister’s conclusions were “all conjecture”.

“…  It’s all a guess game, and until the minister can come and tell us and provide the evidence to show that what he is saying is true — I mean, how preposterous, how ridiculous of the minister to come and see that our unemployment rate right now is bordering on single digits. Does he live in another world? Serious?”

Bramble also suggested that contrary to what Gonsalves had said, building contractors were having a hard time finding workers not because of high employment.

“Is it a problem of so many people on poor relief that they don’t care to go and look for work or make themselves available? Is it an issue of so many of our people leaving and going overseas to work, so you don’t have people to draw from in the force here, the required number of workers? 

“Is it a problem that their skills don’t match what is required? Or is it a problem of people are just psychologically and socially discouraged when they look at their neighbours who are making much better wages, much more money for doing the same job, or maybe they’re working for salaries and wages here, which really can’t even help them to make ends meet.”

Bramble also challenged Gonsalves on the claim that the percentage of the workforce who do not want to work is also in single digits.

“… The last labour force survey was done in 2016, the last population census was done around 2012, the last poverty assessment was done in 2008.

“So we have no credible evidence, no credible data on which to rely and verify what the Minister of Finance is saying. It’s all bogus information, and until he can verify that, we ought to dispel about what he’s saying and discard what he’s saying,” Bramble said. 

“The bottom line is this, the Unity Labour Party government has failed to provide jobs, sustainable jobs for the people of this country. The New Democratic Party will make sure that we provide jobs for our people, good, better paying jobs than what they’re getting now, and we will make sure that the lives of our people are improved.”