Government.

The 1998 Employment Survey released yesterday shows "the difference in the occupational distribution of workers in Bermuda by race is quite stark''.

According to the survey in 1998 nearly half of all positions held by whites (47 percent) were in "the higher paying professional and administrative jobs'' while only 20 percent of black-held jobs fell into the same category.

The survey also revealed that positions held by blacks were the only jobs to decline as 48 positions were cut while positions held by whites saw almost a corresponding increase as a gain of 47 was realised.

"The net decline in positions held by blacks was largely due to the loss of 285 jobs in the service category where blacks are more likely to work,'' the survey read. It also showed 71 percent of all jobs held by whites to be white collar in nature compared against 51 percent of blacks.

A quarter of persons of mixed and other races worked in professional and administrative posts and just over half of them held white collar jobs.

But the local employment scene saw little difference in 1998 when compared with the year before. The number of jobs stood at 35,323 an increase of just 27 over 1997.

Finance Minister Eugene Cox quoted significantly better figures for 1999. In the 2000 Budget statement Mr. Cox revealed some preliminary results from the 1999 Employment Survey which showed an increase of 1,721 jobs. Mr. Cox claimed that the increase was the largest of the 1990s.

"The Statistics Department reports that there were more respondents to the Employment Survey in 1999 and part of the increase in the filled jobs is attributable to better coverage,'' he said. But in the 1998 survey the number of positions held by Bermudians dropped by 203 to 27,053 while the number of non-Bermudians grew by 230 to 8,270.

The survey showed the proportion of male to female jobs remaining at 50 percent but the female share of new jobs declined, reversing the trend of previous years. Women experienced a net loss of 79 jobs in 1998, due largely to hotel and restaurant closures -- but they did make gains in the international business sector, education, community services and business services.

Men gained 106 jobs during the period with the largest growth seen in international business where males picked up 122 new jobs. One hundred and four new jobs were realised in the construction industry while positions in the hotels and restaurants declined.

Men and women have the most equal distribution of jobs in the hotel industry, public administration & defence, recreational and cultural services and personals and household services. Men continued to dominate in agriculture, fishing, quarrying, electricity, gas, water and construction while women were more likely to be found in areas of banking, insurance, real estate, education, health and community services.