Employment Highlights

Total employment on Guam increased in the quarter ending December 2007. The increase this quarter was largely due to increased retail trade employment associated with the opening of new establishments; one in the restaurant business and the other a major home improvement store. Construction, services and manufacturing reported slight increases.

The employment changes over the latest one year period show that construction industry jobs accounted for most of the employment gains; construction payrolls were up 880 jobs and services were 430 jobs above that of one year ago. Federal Government employment increased by 140 jobs while Government of Guam employment declined by 310 compared to the December 2006 figures.

In comparison to private sector figures, one year ago in December, average hourly earnings increased by four percent, average weekly hours paid were unchanged, and average weekly earnings were up five percent. Higher weekly earnings combined with a 2.6 percent increase in the number of private sector workers, combined to increase private sector payroll totals by about eight percent. The industry composition with higher employment in construction contributed to the increase in private sector average hourly and weekly earnings figures.

Click here to view and/or download the December 2007 Current Employment Report in it's entirety. (pdf format)