Over 69% of employment in Brunei's private sector

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Borneo Bulletin/Asia News Network): The number of employed people in the private sector increased by 0.7 per cent from 68.5 per cent in 2021 to 69.2 per cent in 2022, according to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) Report 2022, conducted by the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics (JPES), Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE).

More than half are local workers with the majority service and sales workers, followed by professionals, technicians and associate professionals.

In terms of employment by type of economic activity, the majority of the locals were employed in mining and quarrying; accommodation and food services; and professionals, technical, administration and support services.

The report also showed that the average monthly income recorded a growth of 16.5 per cent for all jobs, from BND1,536 per month per employed person in 2021 to BND1,789 in 2022.

The increase was mainly contributed by employment in the private sector.

The labour force participation rate decreased slightly by 1.1 per cent from 63.8 per cent in 2021 to 62.7 per cent in 2022.

This was due to the increase in the population outside the labour force, especially among those aged 55 and above.

The average hours of work for all jobs decreased by 2.3 per cent to 46.4 hours per week in 2022 compared to 47.5 hours in the previous year, due to a decrease in the average hours of work, especially among foreign workers.

The report also recorded a slight increase in the unemployment rate by 0.3 per cent from 4.9 per cent in 2021 to 5.2 per cent in 2022, most of whom aged 25 to 29 with tertiary-level education.

The number of people outside the labour force increased by 3.9 per cent from the previous year, whereby 94.6 per cent are those who are not actively looking for a job and are not ready to work because they are still studying, undergoing training courses and; those who have family/household responsibilities.

By age group, youth made up about 32.1 per cent of those outside the labour force.

The main objectives of the survey are: to collect the latest information on size, structure, distribution and characteristics of the labour force, employment, unemployment and other economic characteristics of the population, which will be used to assist in the planning, research, policy-making and management concerning the labour force.

The survey covered some 3,200 selected households using systematic sampling method.

Data obtained from the selected households were extrapolated according to the sampling weights and then calibrated to represent the total population living in regular households in the Sultanate.