Bermudians lost 318 jobs between 1994 and 1995 while the number of non-Bermudians in the workforce increased by 308, say statistics released Tuesday by the Ministry of Finance.

The finding, contained in the Ministry's 18th annual Employment Survey (1995), marks a one-percent decline in the number of working Bermudians, who now hold 78 percent, or 26,612, of the Island's 34,133 jobs.

Non-Bermudians meanwhile took up the slack, increasing their share of the Island's jobs to 22 percent, an increase of one percent over 1994. According to the report there were 7,521 non-Bermudians working here in 1995.

Despite the slight dip, the percentage of working Bermudians remains relatively stable, said the Ministry's chief statistician Janet Smith.

Bermudians made up 79 percent of the workforce in 1993 and 1994, she said.

Overall, the survey reported a net loss of ten jobs throughout the Island's economy between 1994 and 1995.

Figures for unemployment were outside the scope of the survey however, said Ms Smith.

"We have no ongoing method of compiling those statistics,'' she told The Royal Gazette . "This survey is merely a breakdown of Island's workforce.'' The last available unemployment statistic dates from 1993, when the rate stood at seven percent.

According to the 1995 survey the production and transportation sector was hard hit, reporting 262 lost positions, while the agricultural, animal husbandry, and fishing sector, reported 51 fewer jobs in 1995.

The retail sector also took it on the chin, reporting 147 positions lost in 1995, or a three percent drop over the previous year.

Bermuda's two major economic engines, tourism and the international companies sector, fared better according to the survey.

The hotel industry held onto its 13-percent share of the labour market with 4,321 jobs reported for 1995, virtually unchanged since 1994, the report said.

The international companies sector proved more dynamic, employing 2,271 people in 1995, an increase of 129 jobs.

Two hundred and sixty two foreign companies maintained a physical presence on the Island, employing on average 8.7 persons per establishment.

In contrast to the all-industry average of a 78 percent Bermudian workforce however, the international companies reported that only 59 percent of those working in this sector were Bermudian.

The international and financial sectors also offered the Island's greatest employment opportunities. Of the 415 qualified accountants reported in the survey, 62 percent were non-Bermudians.

As well, of the 170 computer programmers and systems analysts reported, two of three were from offshore.

The picture looked brighter in the construction sector, which employed 64 more persons in 1995, a four percent increase over 1994.

Government continued to be the Island's largest single employer, accounting for 13 percent of the work force, employing 4,412 people in public administration and defence.

The 1995 Employment Survey also marks the first time information on race was collected, indicating that Bermuda's two main racial groups, blacks and whites, made up 94 percent of the workforce.

According to the survey's racial groupings, blacks held 60 percent of the Island's jobs while whites and mixed races occupied the remaining 40 percent.

Whites, however, were more than twice as likely as blacks to work in positions of power and decision making. According to the survey close to half of whites held such posts.

The two chief sources of work for blacks were in the clerical and service sectors, followed by production and transportation, the report indicated.