CNMI employment rate up 183 percent

Nourished by development in the Commonwealth’s two major industries and its access to foreign workers, growth in the local economy has allowed local residents enjoy rapid increase in wages in 20 years, according to a report from the U.S. government.

The U.S. General Accounting Office also revealed that employment on Saipan improved faster by 183 percent than the island’s population growth rate, which increased by 169 percent between 1980 and 1999.

The GAO findings contradicts a report previously released by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs that the island’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed due to the influx of foreign workers in the Northern Marianas.

GAO said labor participation among U.S. citizens on Saipan increased from about 58 percent in 1980 to 68 percent last year. Also, the number of U.S. citizens in the island who were self-employed rose from 2.5 percent to 5.0 percent of those employed over the same period.

The US interior department’s Office of Insular Affairs has stubbornly insisted that native-born American citizens on Saipan are less likely to participate in the labor force compared with their counterparts in other parts of the US.

The OIA has expressed alarm on the skyrocketing unemployment rate in the CNMI despite the overflowing job opportunities in the private sector which is primarily manned by nonresident workers.

However, GAO stressed that local residents have benefited from economic growth in terms of increase in wages since 1980.

The federal accounting office attributed this increase to major developments in the islands’ garment manufacturing and travel industries, as well as CNMI’s access to foreign workers.

Median income for Chamorro households increased from about $8,900 in 1980 to $30,700 in 1999. GAO also said household and family incomes on Saipan are now more evenly distributed than they were 20 years ago.

In 1980, over 55 percent of all household earning less than $10,000 were heavily concentrated in the three lowest income categories. GAO said there are now far fewer households in the lower income brackets.

Reliance on government jobs

Increased tax and fee revenue from the garment and tourist industries and their employees has enabled the government to expand employment and pay higher wages and salaries.

Although the Commonwealth’s ability to pay higher wages and benefits attracted a big chunk of resident workers to public sector jobs since 1980, the local labor pool’s reliance on government employment has declined by nine percent in 1999.

The GAO report disclosed a smaller proportion of U.S. citizens rely on the government for employment now than in 1980. The number of resident workers employed in the government declined to 44 percent in 1999 from 53 percent in 1980.

The administration of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has been constantly looking at instituting incentive packages for companies that would train and employ local workers in efforts to encourage increased participation of local labor in the private sector.

Workers of Chamorro and Carolinian descent were concentrated in public administration (34.9 percent and 28.1 percent respectively), professional and related services (22 percent and 24.6 percent), and retail trade industries (11.6 percent and 12.4 percent).

The CNMI commerce department has reported that during the 1995 census, Carolinians had the highest unemployment rate at 21.2 percent while Chamorros account for around 12.5 percent.