Jamaica, according to Prime Minister Andrew Holness, is near to full employment, with the country recording a record low unemployment rate of 4.5 percent.
The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) data, based on the April 2023 Labour Force Survey, is 1.5 percentage points lower than the figure for the equivalent period in 2022, Prime Minister Holness said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We are now approaching full employment… [and] our economy is expanding,” Holness remarked, adding, “but what it really means is that more Jamaicans have income.”
“It means that more Jamaican families can do much better than they were doing before,” Holness, also the Minister of Economic Growth and Job Creation, stated.
“This is the best news for our economy…we are building Jamaica.”
Director General Carol Coy said during STATIN’s quarterly digital media briefing on Tuesday that the number of unemployed people in April this year reduced by 19,700, or 24.3%, to 61,300, compared to the same month in 2022.
She stated that the number of unemployed males fell by 8,900, or 26.3 percent, to 24,900, while female unemployment fell from 47,200 last year to 36,400 in April.
The number of unemployed teenagers aged 14 to 24 fell by 6,800, or 21.7 percent, to 24,600.
The employed population increased by 43,300 to 1,312,600.
“Females accounted for more than two-thirds of this rise.” “Employed females increased by 5.1%, or 29,700, while employed males increased by 2%, or 13,600,” Coy said.
STATIN also said that employment had increased in all age categories.
Meanwhile, Aubyn Hill, Minister of Industry, Investment, and Commerce, said the government is working to remove restrictions that prevent small businesses from expanding their exports.
Hill stated that the Ministry has numerous programs in place to help small company owners export their goods and services.
“Some of those barriers are, frankly, financial barriers, so the ministry developed a program called Productive Inputs Relief (PIR),” he continued.
The PIR scheme allows for the duty-free importation of selected commodities designed for industrial use.
The government has targeted specific sectors – agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, healthcare, and the creative industries – through the PIR system, which is being used to encourage and boost economic growth.
“We’re working to remove any barriers that may exist so that we can get them to the point of export,” he said.
The PIR was created in January 2014 as part of the government’s Fiscal Incentive Regime to simplify and streamline the process of giving government fiscal incentives to enterprises and individuals across growth sectors.
