The National Minimum Wage Advisory Commission (NMWAC) held the fourth in its series of public consultations at the Mandeville Hotel in Manchester recently. The sessions are aimed at garnering stakeholder feedback and suggestions, as the Commission seeks to review the rate for a national minimum wage and a minimum wage for industrial security guards. The minimum wage was last increased...

Inventors and entrepreneurs can now access funding support under the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) $100-million patent grant facility. Manager for DBJ’s Boosting Innovation, Growth and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (BIGEE) Programme, Christopher Brown, made the announcement during a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank at the agency’s head office in Kingston on Thursday (October 27). The BIGEE Programme, under which the...

The return of the British International Investment (BII) to the region will offer a vital new source of finance for countries. It will prioritise investments in the private sector, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a focus on sustainable and scalable projects. Addressing the launch of the BII on Tuesday (October 25), at the British High Commission in Kingston,...

The Racecourse Health Centre in Clarendon has been given a much-needed facelift, creating a more pleasant environment for the health care workers and residents, who use the facility.  The work was undertaken by the 2021 Civil Servants of the Year through sponsorship of $150,000 from First Heritage Co-operative Credit Union (FHC).  It included the tiling of the passageway, which runs...

The Government and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA), to avoid double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.   The signing took place on October 20, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in downtown Kingston.  Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon....

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is reporting that the unemployment rate for July 2022 was 6.6 per cent. This was a 1.9 percentage-point decline compared to the corresponding period last year. Director General, Carol Coy, says the data show that in July 2022, there were 89,700 unemployed persons, 22,800 fewer compared to July 2021. She said the number of...

Revenues from total exports amounted to US$801 million during the first half of 2022 (between January and June), representing an increase of 2.3 per cent relative to the comparable 2021 period. Director General, Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), Carol Coy, gave the figures while providing an update on the International Merchandise Trade for January to June 2022, during the Institute’s...