Census shows poorer NMI

The average income each person makes in the Northern Marianas dropped by a third between 2000 and 2004, according to a census report released yesterday.

The census, conducted in the last quarter of 2005, found that the CNMI per capita income plunged to $6,178 in 2004, from $9,151 in 2000.

The Commonwealth’s household income and family income mirrored the decline in per capita income. Each household made an average income of $25,172 in 2004, down from $37,015 in 2000. The average family income plunged to $28,461 in 2004, from $37,986 in 2000.

A downward trend was also observed in the labor force population. Unemployment rose to 8 percent in 2005, from 4 percent in 2000.

These findings are contained in the 2005 CNMI Household Income and Expenditures Survey, a study previously undertaken by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Central Statistics Division of the CNMI Department of Commerce conducted the survey using funds from the U.S. Interior Department’s Office of Insular Affairs.

A copy of the report was presented by local government officials to OIA economist Wali Osman on Tuesday. The administration hopes the census report will help the CNMI government make its case on federal issues.

“This 2005 HIES, and the 2008 Comprehensive Assessment and Impact Analysis Report we will present later, will allow OIA to represent better to the United States Congress and the Administration the real impact we face with our fragile islands’ economy threatened by forces apparently outside our control,” said Richard Pierce, the governor’s special assistant for trade relations and economic affairs.

Population

The estimated total population in the CNMI in October 2005 was 65,927, with 60,608 on Saipan, 2,829 on Tinian and 2,490 on Rota. The total population represents a decrease of 4.7 percent from 69,221 in 2000.

Saipan Election Districts 1 and 3 each had about 30 percent of the total population in 2005, followed by ED5 (13 percent), ED2 (10 percent), and ED4 (9 percent). Election District 6, or Tinian, had just over 4 percent while ED7, or Rota, had just fewer than 4 percent of the CNMI’s total population at the time of the survey.

The estimated median age for the entire CNMI population was 29.2 years of age.

Persons aged 20 to 44 made up 48 percent of the total population, larger than those aged below 20 (32 percent) and those above 44 (20 percent). The reports attributed this to the large number of migrant workers in the CNMI who fall into ages 20 to 44.

Females, who make up 53 percent of the population, outnumbered the males, 47 percent. There were 87 males to every 100 females in the Commonwealth in 2005.

The largest single ethnic group in the CNMI was Filipino at about 30 percent of the total population in 2005, followed by Chamorro (23 percent) and Chinese (16 percent). The Carolinians comprise about 5 percent of the total population.

Asians made up 53 percent of the CNMI’s total population, Pacific Islanders about 37 percent, and Caucasian less than 2 percent.

Persons of multiple ethnicities made up about 8 percent of the Commonwealth’s total population.

Just over half (50.3 percent) of the CNMI’s total population were U.S. citizens, while slightly less than half (49.7 percent) were non-U.S. citizens. By gender, total male U.S. citizens outnumbered total male non-U.S. citizens. Total female non-U.S. citizens outnumbered total female U.S. citizens. “This is mainly because of the large number of non-U.S. citizen females who were working in the apparel industry at the time of the survey,” the report stated.

About 56 percent of the CNMI’s total population was born outside and migrated here, while 44 percent was born within the Commonwealth. Seventy-five percent of the total migrants came to the CNMI for employment. About 12 percent were family members of employees in the CNMI. Three percent came as students, 5 percent came for visiting, and the rest came for reasons such as missionary, medical, and other purposes.

Of the total number of migrants, 44 percent have been in the CNMI less than five years, 16 percent have been here 5 to 9 years, 30 percent have been here 10 to 19 years, and about 10 percent have been here 20 or more years, as of 2005.

About 84 percent of the total CNMI population lived in household units and 16 percent lived in group quarters.

Labor force

Of the estimated 48,669 people in the CNMI aged 16 years and older in 2005, 79 percent were in the labor force. About 92 percent of them were employed in 2005.

Non-U.S. citizens comprised about 78 percent of the total employed persons in the CNMI in 200, while 22 percent were U.S. citizens.

Asians comprised 75 percent of those employed, Pacific islanders were about 21 percent and Caucasians less than 2 percent. Filipinos (40 percent) were the largest single ethnic group, followed by Chinese (28 percent). Chamorros were 13 percent, Micronesians about 16 percent, and Carolinians about 2 percent.

The garment industry, with 31 percent of the employed persons, was the largest employer in the CNMI. Hotels employed the second largest number of employees, with 14 percent of those employed. The government employed 9 percent, and retail trade provided jobs to 7 percent of the CNMI’s total employed population.

Over 79 percent of the total employed in the CNMI worked in the private sector, about 14 percent worked in the public sector, and less than 1 percent was self-employed.

Meanwhile, of the 3,200 unemployed in 2005, 68 percent were U.S. citizens and 32 percent were non-U.S. citizens. Persons born in the CNMI were about 56 percent of the CNMI’s total unemployed population in 2005.

Chamorros were 35 percent of the CNMI’s total unemployed, Asians were 24 percent, Micronesians were 16 percent, and Carolinians were 15 percent. Multiple ethnics made up about 8 percent of the CNMI’s total unemployed population in 2005.

Income

Over 16,000 households in the CNMI reported household income in 2004. About 28 percent of these had household income less than $10,000; 29 percent had income of $10,000 or more, but less than $20,000; about 13 percent had income of $20,000 or more, but less than $30,000; 20 percent had income of $30,000 or more, but less than $60,000; and 10 percent had income of $60,000 or more.

The median household income in the CNMI in 2004 was $17,138, down from $22,898 in 2000.

An estimated 11,500 families reported family income in 2004. About 23 percent of these had family income of less than $10,000; 28 percent had income of income of $10,000 or more, but less than $20,000; about 13 percent had income of $20,000 or more, but less than $30,000; 11 percent had income of $30,000 or more, but less than $40,000; 13 percent had income of $40,000 but less than $60,000; and 12 percent had income of $60,000 or more.

The median family income in the CNMI in 2004 was $19,625, down from $25,853 in 2000.

The Central Statistics Division conducted the survey in the last quarter of 2005. Last year, OIA agreed to fund the completion of the data files in report form.

The CNMI requested the work to be undertaken as essential to the economic projects for the U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Department of Labor’s congressionally mandated review of minimum wage impact in the CNMI and for the ongoing independent economic impact analysis for the Office of the Governor.

After an OIA grant was awarded to the Office of the Governor and CNMI Commerce, the Central Statistics Division worked with consultants from Harvard University and the Northern Marianas College to complete the important CNMI data files and tables to present to OIA.

A summary section profiles the general population characteristics, labor force population characteristics and income for the CNMI as a whole and for each of the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota, with thematic maps.

A second part of the Report contains detailed statistical tables, totaling 188, on many of the topics covered in the 2005 HIES.

The HIES lists population by election districts, median age, age distribution, sex ratio, ethnicity, citizenship, migrant population, reason for migrating to the CNMI, length of stay and living arrangements. Labor and income statistics cover employment by industry, employment and unemployment, employment by ethnicity and citizenship and by class of workers. Household and family income figures are provided, as are per capita income.