This study attempts to extend the scope of existing analyses of unemployment in Jamaica by exploring empirically one aspect of the relation between demand and unemployment. / The central hypothesis is that the structure of consumer expenditures which result from a highly skewed income distribution pattern is a cause of continuing high levels of unemployment. / A static Leontieff-type input-output model is used to generate solutions for industry output levels and associated employment levels, for alternative expenditure patterns resulting from income redistribution. / The results confirm the hypothesis. It was found that although higher employment levels were generally associated with more equitable income distribution structures, employment expansion was also constrained by the absence of intersectoral linkages.

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