Income from employment dropped by a total of $1.7 million in the final quarter of last year, according to the latest Government statistics.

International business, hit by lower bonuses and fewer stock options awarded, recorded the biggest decline, a total of $6.7 million.

But the business services sector notched up the largest increase, $5.3 million up, which was attributed to increased staffing and associated salaries.

The quarterly bulletin of statistics, issued by the Bermuda Government, showed that imports for the period amounted to $249.8 million, an increase of ten per cent. The jump was put down to an $11.7 million rise in imports of machinery, particularly electrical equipment and mechanical appliances.

Imports of finished goods went up $6.5 million, which reflected a rise in imports of furniture.

Food, drink and tobacco imports also went up by $5.6 million year on year, due mostly to an increase in imports of fruit and fish.

Chemicals and miscellaneous items also saw an increase, with imports up by 2.2 million and $1.3 million respectively.

Imports from the US went up by $31.6 million compared with the last quarter of 2015.

The value of imported goods from the Caribbean, Britain and all other countries also went up, but goods brought in from Canada dropped nearly $12 million.

In tourism, air arrivals were up 17 per cent at 49,580 over the same period the previous year. Estimated total expenditure by air visitors was $65.6 million, an increase of more than a quarter compared to the last quarter of 2015. They spent $10 million more on accommodation and food, and $4 million extra on shopping, entertainment and transport.

Cruise ships, which docked in Bermuda 22 times in the fourth quarter of 2016, carried nearly 53,500 passengers, up more than 5,000 year-on-year.

The expenditure for these passengers was estimated at a little over $8 million, compared to $5.8 million from the 20 ships that visited in the same quarter of 2015.

The level of employment in the hotel industry dropped by 62 staff, with 121 fewer Bermudians, but 59 more non-Bermudians.

Gross receipts in hotels went up $5 million, or 9.6 per cent, to $57.3 million for the period, which included a $2.6 million gain from room rentals and $1.5 million in extra food sales.