Almost one in three jobs on the Island were held by non-Bermudians last year, after a 3.5 percent increase in the number of guest workers, Government figures show.

Although the number of jobs in the economy increased slightly last year, the number of posts held by Bermudians fell for the second straight year.

Meanwhile the preliminary employment data for last year also showed that the expanding Civil Service was the biggest producer of new jobs in the Bermuda economy last year.

Non-Bermudian workers totalled 12,968 in 2008 — or 32.4 percent of the workforce — although included are 1,957 spouses of Bermudians.

The percentage of jobs held by Bermudians has declined steadily in recent years, from 73.4 percent in 2002 to 67.6 percent last year.

Government was the biggest single contributor to new jobs as the public administration sector added 110 new posts last year, a rise of 2.7 percent, to 4,223.

The new Civil Service jobs accounted for more than half of the overall gain of 217 jobs that the Island achieved last year.

The figures, released on Friday in the Ministry of Finance's National Economic Report for 2008, showed that last year there were 40,068 jobs on the Island, a 0.5 percent increase from the 39,581 in 2007.

Meanwhile the largest jobs provider on the Island, international business, remained flat — adding 12 jobs for a total of 4,701 — after being impacted by global economic turmoil.

The construction industry, which has enjoyed strong growth in recent years, was the second biggest contributor of new jobs, adding 100 to its workforce last year for a total of 3,644.

There was also a 2.7 percent increase in the number of people employed in the hotel sector to 3,046. The sector managed to create the 81 new jobs despite a down year for tourism in a year in which visitor arrivals plunged 12.4 percent.

The average hotel occupancy rate was 59.1 percent last year — a decline of 11.9 percent year on year.

Despite the overall increase in the Island's workforce last year, six of the 16 sectors of economic activity recorded a loss in jobs by the end of the year.

Worst hit was the transportation and communications, which shed 155 posts — a fall of 5.6 percent compared to 2007.

There were 241 more professionals working in Bermuda last year than the year before. This group ended the year with 7,526 jobs compared to 7,285, an increase of 3.3 percent.

The service workers and shop and market sales workers group enjoyed a similar expansion, adding 234 posts, or 3.2 percent, to 7,552 jobs.

No breakdowns on race or salary were available in the preliminary data.