PIOJ reports growth in economy

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) says the economy continued to grow during the first quarter of this calendar year.

The agency points out that there was real GDP growth of 0.6% or, less than 1 %.

The PIOJ says real GDP growth was fuelled mainly by the performances in agriculture, forestry, fishing, the wholesale and retail trade, tourism, as well as increases in remittance inflows.

The PIOJ states that this represents the fifth consecutive quarter of economic growth.

Meantime, PIOJ Director General, Dr. Gladstone Hutchinson states that unemployment increased over the first quarter.

He said the employed labour force recorded a net decline of 23,100 compared with January 2011, largely due to the downturn in employment in the construction industry.

Real GDP is projected to be within the range of 0.5 % to 1.5 % for the April to June 2012 period.

Dr. Hutchinson cautions that growth may be impacted by developments in the Eurozone, which could temper external demand for Jamaica’s goods and services.

The PIOJ Director General gave an assessment of the economy at the institute’s quarterly press briefing today (May 30).

Dr. Hutchinson also looked at the status of indicators of well-being and progress that track Jamaica’s achievements towards vision 2030 Jamaica.