BARBADOS COUNTRY ECONOMIC REVIEW 2017
associated with the Sandals project, as well as commercial estate projects. The performance of all other sectors was subdued. 1.03 The average unemployment rate stood at 10.2% for the four quarters ending September 2017, slightly higher than the 9.7% in the corresponding period one year earlier (See Figure 2). Inflation remains at a relatively low level, but is trending upward. Inflation levels, as measured by the retail prices index, increased to 4% at the end of October 2017, from an increase of 1.5% in the previous year. The main category driving this upward movement was food and non-alcoholic beverages. In particular, the implementation of the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL), which became effective in September 2017 and the tax measures included in the Budget 2017/18, contributed to the uptick in domestic price levels. FIGURE 2: UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Unemployment Rate (%)
14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Source: CBB
Social Sector 1.04 The composition of poverty changed in 2016, with a significantly lower share of indigent poor2 (3.39%) compared with 2010 (6.9%), and an increased incidence of non-indigent3 poverty of 13.82% compared with 8.1% in 2010. The total poverty rate (resulting from the addition of the indigent and non-indigent poverty rates) was estimated to be 17.21%, above the rate in 2010, which was 15% of Barbadian households. The Gini coefficient in 2016 was 0.32, which is below the coefficient estimated for 2010 (0.43), and suggests that inequality among households fell between 2010 and 2016. The 2016 Survey of Living Conditions (SLC) data also highlighted a disparity in poverty and vulnerability between genders, as female poverty and vulnerability rates were above that of males in all categories of households (e.g. extreme poor, non-extreme poor, and poor).
The 2016 SLC computed the extreme poverty or indigent poverty line based on a 2,104 kilocalorie per day diet equivalent to $297.28 per month per person. 3 The non-indigent poor represents households with monthly per capita consumption above the indigent poverty line, but below the overall poverty line. 2
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