YOUTH unemployment exists, not only in one community, but in every part of Guyana. Unemployment in Guyana has no face. It affects everyone whether you are black, Indian, Chinese or Mixed, with incomplete or complete secondary level education, tertiary level, and particularly, those who may not have the necessary training and skills demanded by the employers. The AFC and the APNU lament the extremity of youth unemployment, specifically among youth blacks, but when we look at the National Employment Report, for example, based on the 2002 consensus, youth, aged 15-24 numbered 174, 552 and represented 36% out of 88% of the working-age population. At that time, the unemployment rate was approximately 12%. This report also indicated that due to the fact that school leavers are inexperienced, they tend to have a waiting period to find their first, or even another job. This type of unemployment is called frictional unemployment.
There is also unemployment among agricultural workers called seasonal unemployment, a situation where some agricultural workers, especially,in rice and sugar are unemployed between planting and harvesting seasons. An agriculture-based country, or one that has many seasons namely the United States, would experience seasonal unemployment.
Guyana seems to be mainly troubled by structural unemployment. According to Ehrenberg and Smith 1994; this is situation that “arises when changes in the pattern of labour demand cause a mismatch between skills demanded and supplied in a given area or cause an imbalance between the supplies of and demand for workers across areas”.  Because of the nature of this type of unemployment, it is government which plays a role in reducing structural unemployment.
How has the Guyana government aided in this reduction? Let’s look at two important labour institutions that seek to address some of labour market and employment issues under the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security in Guyana. There is the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) established under the Industrial Training Act chapter 39:04 of the Laws of Guyana. According to the BIT, “as part of its mandate the Board is committed to provide training opportunities for youth, thereby equipping them with marketable skills in a variety of occupations.” There is also The Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA). CRMA outlines that “established by the Government of Guyana, for the purpose of collecting and furnishing information to employers who wish to recruit workers and persons who are seeking employment.”