The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is reporting that the unemployment rate for July 2021 was 8.5 per cent. This is 4.1 percentage points lower than the 12.6 per cent out-turn for the corresponding period last year, according to STATIN’s Labour Force Survey for the month. Director General, Carol Coy, says data from the survey show that the number of...

The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) and the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange (CSX) have approved reciprocal agreements of Recognition in keeping with each Exchange’s rules. This move is a continuation of the JSE’s strategic journey of collaboration for growth and development of the region’s capital market. Speaking on matter of mutual recognition, Dr Marlene Street Forrest, Managing Director of the JSE,...

Vulnerable persons and those adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are to benefit from a $1-billion national food drive being implemented by the Government. Through the initiative, dubbed the ‘CARE Package Food Drive’, between 200,000 and 250,000 food baskets will be distributed to targeted persons under the Government’s COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Programme, which is being...

The second staging of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Wealth Summit is set for Wednesday, October 20, 2021. Digital Financial Inclusion will be the focus of the event. Digital financial inclusion involves the deployment of cost-saving digital means to reach the financially excluded, underserved populations with a range of formal financial services suited to their needs. The...

Approximately 350,000 Jamaicans are expected to benefit from new grants under the Government’s COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Programme which is being expanded with a further budgetary allocation of $5.3 billion. Over a period of six months, one-off grants, ranging from $10,000 to $18,000 will be provided for vulnerable persons in six categories at a total cost of...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says the 14 per cent growth in the services industry for the April to June quarter heightens the prospect of sooner-than-anticipated recovery from the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Planning Institute of Jamica (PIOJ) reported that the industry’s turnout largely spurred a turnaround in...

Drafting instructions are to be issued to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel for amendments to the Bank of Jamaica Act, to facilitate the issuance of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ). The move follows approval by Cabinet. Addressing a virtual post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday (October 6), Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval...