IMF Rep, Business Leaders Welcome Further Drop in Unemployment

• International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative, Dr. Constant Lonkeng Ngouana, says the reduction in Jamaica’s unemployment rate to 7.8% is a “tremendous achievement”.
• Noting that the rate was approximately 16.3% at the start of Jamaica’s current engagement with the organization in May 2013, Dr. Ngouana contends that “more than halving this in six years is very significant”.
• He was commenting on the results of the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) April 2019 Labour Force Survey, which was outlined during the agency’s recent quarterly briefing at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston.
• Dr. Ngouana argues that the level of reduction in unemployment recorded thus far “is not something that happens very often” in countries experiencing the extent of economic challenges Jamaica faced.
• “The trend in the world has been that economies, after their crises, tend to have jobless recoveries,” he notes. The IMF Rep says in Jamaica’s case, the opposite has been occurring, where, while growth may not yet be at the desired level, a significant number of jobs are being created.

(Source: JIS)