The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is reporting that the largest increase in employment by occupation group, in April 2022, was recorded in ‘Service Workers and Shop and Market Sales Workers’, which climbed by 18,500 persons to 283,900. This represented a seven-percentage point increase, according to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica’s (STATIN) Labour Force Survey for the month. The findings...

Jamaica’s unemployment rate fell to a new record low of six per cent in April 2022, to continue the downward trajectory occurring in recent months. This outturn, according to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica’s (STATIN) April Labour Force Survey, is 0.2 percentage point lower than the figure for January 2022. Director General, Carol Coy, said it also represents a three-percentage...

Public sector workers, who earn salaries at the lowest levels, will receive support for back-to-school expenses from the Government. This was announced by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, at a virtual press conference on Tuesday (July 12). “We are working to ensure that we will have in place, a programme that persons who...

The deadline for the submission of applications for the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission’s (BGLC) Tertiary Education Grant has been extended to Friday, July 22. Applications should be completed online via the application portal, which is accessible through the BGLC’s website at www.bglc.gov.jm. The online process requires persons to do an eligibility check before they can access the application form....

The Government is increasing paid maternity leave from 40 days to three months, and for the first time in the public service, will be introducing paternity leave for fathers of newborns, and family leave for adoptive parents who are bringing a new child into the home. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, made the...

The House of Representatives has approved the withdrawal of $268.48 million from the Capital Development Fund (CDF), to provide budgetary support to the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) for the 2022/23 financial year. In his remarks on July 5 in the House, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, said the JBI was established by the...

Training has started for persons who will work on the 15th Population and Housing Census. Director General, Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), Carol Coy, told JIS News that approximately 9,000 census takers and supervisors will be trained in four rounds of training, ending on August 24. So far, persons from Trelawny Northern, St. James, Hanover, Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth have...