§ 53. Mr. Marquandasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what surveys have been made of employment trends in British Guiana; and what is the latest estimate of the numbers of persons likely to be unemployed in 1966.
§ Mr. ProfumoA comprehensive report was recently prepared by the International Labour Organisation on Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment in British Guiana. In order to give the Government an assessment of the possible magnitude of the problems to be faced in the coming years, the report gave an estimate of what the unemployment might be on two hypotheses.
97WOn the hypothesis that the normal growth of employment would be just sufficient to hold the unemployment ratio at the 1956 level but making allowance for 7,000 new jobs arising from the economic development programme, it was estimated that unemployment in 1966 would range from 31,000 to 33,000. On the second hypothesis that new opportunities of employment would fail to develop, apart from the 7,000 new jobs already referred to, then unemployment in 1966 could rise as high as 80,000 to 91,000, depending on the size of the labour force.
There are, however, so many variable factors, that as the report states, such figures do not pretend to be an estimate of what will happen, but are of value as illustrating the magnitude of the problems the Colony will have to face in the future.