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Jamaica — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Jamaica, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
3.29%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · -47.3% since 1991
Unemployment for Jamaica was 3.29% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 9.70% in 2013. The lowest was 3.02% in 2023 (about 1.1× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -1.87% per year.
Jamaica ranks 138 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 74%. The median for Latin America & Caribbean is 5.99%, so Jamaica sits below it. It peaked in 2013 and has fallen 66% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 63%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
3.29%
First (1991)
6.23%
Change
-47.3%
Highest
9.70%
in 2013
Lowest
3.02%
in 2023
Average
6.54%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-1.87%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3.29% |
| 2024 | 3.15% |
| 2023 | 3.02% |
| 2022 | 4.08% |
| 2021 | 5.19% |
| 2020 | 6.5% |
| 2019 | 4.99% |
| 2018 | 5.47% |
| 2017 | 7.4% |
| 2016 | 8.63% |
| 2015 | 8.82% |
| 2014 | 9.05% |
Reading this correctly. Share of the labor force without work but available for and seeking employment. National definitions differ, so cross-country comparison needs care. Figures are in % of total labor force. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS — Unemployment Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.