MINISTER of Finance Chris Sinckler is standing by the single-digit unemployment numbers published by the Central Bank for the first quarter of 2016 which have attracted adverse scrutiny by the Opposition and some economists.
During debate in the House of Assembly Tuesday on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2016 to raise the retirement age for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Auditor General from 62 to 67 years, Sinckler insisted that the jobless rate had declined to 9.3 per cent between January and March, representing the first single digits recorded in several years.
“Yes, it has gone down,” he affirmed, “both in terms of the rolling yearly average and in terms of the last quarter, according to the Statistical Department.”
Opposition adviser on the economy, Dr Clyde Mascoll, a University of the West Indies (UWI) economics lecturer, said while he does not take issue with the Statistical department, research showed the years 2003 and 2015 were similar with respect to the unemployment rates in the first quarter, with 11.7 per cent and 11.8 per cent, respectively. (AB)
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