Slight decrease in total employment by end of first quarter 2011 Total employment decreased this quarter compared to last quarter reaching 594,925 workers. The number of employed Bahrainis continued to increase for the third quarter in a row to reach 141,263 by end of this quarter representing a positive annual growth rate of 2.1%. Average monthly wages increased to 330 BD at an annual rate of 5.1% compared to the same quarter a year before. The number of new work visas issued by LMRA during this quarter for regular workers decreased by 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. The share of small organizations (less than 10 workers) of regular work visas remains unchanged at 39.3%. The total number of new visas issued by LMRA during this quarter was 29,370 visas, of which 22,929 were for regular workers, 117 for investors, 1,300 for temporary workers and 5,024 for dependents. Compared with the same quarter a year before, the total number of work visas issued by LMRA decreased from 33,021 in 2010 Q1 to 29,370 this quarter. The total number of visa renewals reached 41,265 in 2011 Q1 of which 30,532 were for regular workers, 219 for investors, 217 for temporary workers and 10,297 for dependents. Renewal of regular work visas decrease this quarter by 19.2% compared to the same period a year before. In 2011 Q1, the total number of terminations was 20,421, of which 17,630 were for regular workers, 7 for investors, 716 for temporary workers and 2,068 for dependents. The economic sector with the highest number of new work visas for regular workers was construction (36.3%), followed by wholesale and retail trade (20.1%), and manufacturing (13.0%). The number of foreign workers changing employers (mobility transactions) during Q1 2011 was 4,271. The percentage of mobility after termination or expiry of work visas increased to 68% in comparison to 65% last quarter. While mobility with consent of previous employers decreased from 32% last quarter to 30%. This leaves 2% of the transactions to mobility without consent of previous employers. The Construction, Hotels and restaurants, and Transport, storage and communications sectors had the highest shares of mobility transactions representing 41% of total. In terms of size of economic units, 48 % of mobility transactions were made by economic units of 1-10 workers in Q1 2011. The median wages of Bahraini employees increased this quarter to reach BD 449, representing a change of 2% in comparison to the same quarter last year (BD 440, Q1 2010). The median wage of Bahrainis in the private sector continues to show higher increment than the public sector with an annual growth rate of %5.6 (reaching BD 337). The labour cost gap between Bahraini and non-Bahraini workers in the target sectors (construction, trade, hotels and restaurants and small scale manufacturing) reached BD 241 showing an increase of BD 10 compared to the same quarter a year before. 1 Total employment Q1/11 594,925 0.2% Labour accounting - Employment 2 - Bahrainis Q1/11 141,263 2.1% Labour accounting - Employment 3 - Non-Bahrainis Q1/11 453,661 -0.4% Labour accounting - Employment 5 New work visas Q1/11 22,929 -8.2% Foreign workers 6 Renewals Q1/11 30,532 -19.2% Foreign workers 7 Terminations Q1/11 17,630 9.9% Foreign workers 8 Mobility Q1/11 4,271 85.3% Foreign workers 9 New Bahraini Entrance Q1/11 855 -7.7% Job creation 10 - With ≤ BD 250 monthly Q1/11 120 -69.2% Job creation with wages 11 New enterprises Q1/11 1,637 -7.3% New enterprises 13 Average monthly wages Q1/11 330 BD 5.1% Average monthly wages 14 Labour cost gap Q1/11 251 BD 18 BD Labour cost 15 Median monthly wages (Bahrainis) Q1/11 449 BD 2.0% Median monthly wages (Bahrainis) 16 - Public Sector Q1/11 585 BD 1.2% Median monthly wages (Bahrainis) 17 - Private Sector Q1/11 337 BD 5.6% Median monthly wages (Bahrainis) 18 Consumer Price Index (CPI) Q1/11 111.83 0.1% Prices 19 Total Productivity Q4/10 - -0.3% Productivity 20 Labour Productivity Q4/10 - -11.9% Productivity All percentage growth rates or differences of levels shown in the dashboard represent the change from the same quarter a year before except for the indicators marked with *. * represents percentage growth rates compared to previous quarter. - means that comparable data are not available or the number is too small to report real change. 1. Includes all civilian employed persons in the private and public sectors (insured, uninsured and self-employed) and domestic workers. Starting from Q1 2010, LMRA is using data from LMRA Expat management System (EMS) to produce the total number of foreign worker employment in public and private sectors. 2. Excluding visas for domestic workers, investors and temporary workers. 3. Newly registered workers at GOSI. 4. Target sectors are limited to four branches of economic activity: Construction; Wholesale, retail trade and repairs; Hotels and restaurants; and Manufacturing (small scale). The statistics on total employment and wages presented in the dashboard (with details in Tables A and B) are estimates prepared by LMRA Policy Directorate using data from different administrative sources, as well as national surveys and censuses. These primary data are compiled together and then adjusted against each other in an orderly fashion based on labour accounting principles. The resulting labour accounts are available to interested users upon request ( MI@lmra.gov.bh ).They provide harmonised quarterly data on employment and wages by sex, citizenship, sector of employment and major branch of economic activity (Construction and Trade). a It should be mentioned that the effect of adjusting data from different sources within the labour accounting framework has its limits. The adjustment process cannot eliminate all inconsistencies and inaccuracies that may exist in the original data. Therefore, some irregularities are likely to remain in the adjusted data, and it would be helpful if users of the data could alert us of these as they detect them ( Link to feedback ). a. Data for each quarter represent the situation in the last month of the quarter. Table_A.pdf Table_A1.pdf Table_A2.pdf Table_A06.pdf Table_A07.pdf Table_A10.pdf Table_A99.pdf Table_B.pdf Table_B1.pdf Table_B2.pdf Table_B06.pdf Table_B07.pdf Table_B10.pdf Table_B99.pdf Table_25.pdf Table_26.pdf Table_27.pdf Table_17.pdf Table_17.pdf Table_18.pdf Table_18.pdf Table_18.pdf Table_19.pdf Table_32.pdf Table_32.pdf Table_33.pdf Table_35a.pdf Table_35b.pdf Table_36a.pdf Table_36b.pdf Table_37a.pdf Table_37b.pdf Table_39.pdf Table_39.pdf Table_41.pdf Table_41.pdf Table_43.pdf Table_40.pdf Table_49.pdf Table_50.pdf Table_51.pdf Table_52.pdf Table_53.pdf Table_54.pdf Table_55.pdf Table_56.pdf Table_54.pdf Table_14.pdf Table_70.pdf Table_71.pdf Table_72.pdf Table_73.pdf