Shaw says improved employment rate shows economy getting better

Finance Minister Audley Shaw is hailing the reduction in unemployment rate as a positive indication that the economy is on the rise.

Shaw's comments this morning follows the release of the July labour force survey by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).

The survey showed unemployment fell to 11.3 per cent compared with 12.9 per cent in July 2016.

The improved July unemployment rate is also a decrease from the 12.2 per cent recorded in April this year.

Also showing an improvement is the youth unemployment rate, which decreased to 27.5 per cent from 29.6 per cent in July 2016.

The Finance Minister says the continuous improvement in the country's employment rate is in line with the government's economic growth and job creation agenda.

In the meantime, Shaw says despite the weather-related shocks, the economy is projected to grow between 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent this fiscal year.

He also said the government has managed to keep a near-balanced budget and is on track to reducing the public debt to 107.1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product by the end of the fiscal year.

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