The economy is firing all barrels except in the hotel and restaurant sector as indicated in employment income figures released yesterday by the Statistics Department.

Employment income grew 7.9 percent in 1998 to $1.46 billion compared to 1997.

Inflation for the year was 1.9 percent indicating a six percent real growth in the money being earned by workers on the Island.

Workers in the international business sector earned a total of $203.17 million, a growth of 11 percent over 1997. International business sector wages accounted for 13.9 percent of the total employment income for 1998. Meanwhile, Government paid out 5.5 percent more in salaries and wages in 1998 for a total of $233.23 million. Public administration and defence wages make up the second largest chunk of employment income, accounting for 16 percent of the total in 1998.

The catch-all classification of "all other'' accounts for 18.8 percent of the total employment income. Employment income in the category grew 9.1 percent during the year to $274 million.

Meanwhile, wages growth in the hotel and restaurant sector indicated the stagnation in the tourism sector. Employment income in the sector grew less than a percent in nominal terms to $129.63 million. In real terms employment income fell about 1.1 percent after inflation is taken into account.

Total wages in the wholesale and retail sector grew four percent to $151.13 million. Banking, insurance and real estate companies paid out $177,86 million in wages in 1998, a 9.2 percent growth. Business services sector paid out $118 million in wages in 1998, an 11 percent growth. Employment income increased 12.1 percent to $93.14 million in the construction sector.

Total wages in transport and communications industry grew 11.4 percent to $79.48 million.

In preliminary figures from the 1998 Employment Survey released earlier this year the number of jobs held by Bermudians decreased by 149 at the same time that non-Bermudians registered a net increase of 257 positions.

The preliminary figures indicate that the rate of job creation in Bermuda was slower than in recent years. The survey results show only a net increase of 108 jobs over the previous year, compared to an increase of 663 in 1997. The total number of employed in 1998 was estimated at 35,404 employed.

The percentage of jobs held by non-Bermudians rose 0.6 percentage points to 19.1 percent of jobs, or 6,771 employed. The figure excludes the 1,526 jobs held by non-Bermudian spouses of Bermudians. International companies registered the largest increase in employment with a net gain of 209 positions to 2,876 employed. The booming construction sector, fuelled in part by the demand for high quality office space by international companies, created 90 more jobs in 1998 for a total of 2,133.