Bermuda?s labour force grew by eight percent between 1991 and 2000, but the number of expatriates jumped up by ten percent, the latest Government figures show.

The decline of tourism and growth of international business meant hospitality jobs dropped by 22 percent to 2,738 while the offshore sector expanded by 65 percent to 3,167.

This continued expansion of international business and shrinking of tourism meant guest workers now are much more educated, with 2,868 (40 percent of the total) having degrees compared to 1,663 in 1991.

And expatriates are now staying in Bermuda for longer periods of time, with 55 percent staying for four or more years as opposed to 53 percent in 1991.

International business now supplies nine percent of all jobs in the economy (3,167), only lagging behind wholesale, retail and repair services (4,773), education, health and social work (4,026), construction (3,792), and business services (3,198).

The figures from the Department of Statistics also show unemployment has dropped from six percent to three percent over the period and the number of Bermudians in training programmes has dropped.

There were 13,214 Bermudians receiving training in 1991 compared to 10,230 in 2000. But the statistics report says this might be because there was a looser definition of training in 1991 which included on-the-job training.

Youth unemployment ? those between 16 and 24 ? also dropped sharply from 16 percent to ten percent, although there are big differences between the races.

Eleven percent of black youths were unemployed four years ago compared to four percent of whites.