The Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (ISEE) of New Caledonia published on Monday, October 7, the first official unemployment figures since the beginning of the unrest affecting the archipelago. Based on the data available as of August 31, the ISEE estimates that there are 6,000 fewer employees in the private sector since the beginning of the revolt linked to the proposal to unfreeze the electoral body on May 13, which led to the destruction of a large part of the economy. Noumea fabric.
Although it specifies that these figures still need to be consolidated, the ISEE adds that in August, “4,929 people deprived of work received full unemployment compensation, or 7.4% of the active working population in March”. The ISEE also calculates that “19,330 people received support in case of partial unemployment, or 29% of the active working population” before the crisis.
Cost of Living Champion
According to the institute, at least half of the companies in the French South Pacific territory have filed for partial unemployment due to the unrest. This increase in precariousness is accompanied by an increase in prices, which “weaken” the most modest homes, highlights the ISEE. Between May and August, the food price index increased by 4.3%.
New Caledonia is already considered the champion of the cost of living among overseas departments, regions and communities (DROM-COM), with a price difference of more than 30% compared to the mainland in 2022, according to the ISEE.
Another notable point, the institute shows the collapse of mining and metallurgical production of nickel, the main natural resource of the archipelago. In August, extraction reached 545,770 tons, compared to 1.8 million in August 2023. During the first nine months of the year, it amounted to 5.3 million tons, compared to 13.2 million tons in the same period of the year. last year.
During his general policy statement, the 1Ahem In October, the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, assured that the project to reform the electoral body, formalized in the previous legislature, “will not be presented” to parliamentarians.
