Unemployment edging up, NESDB says
Although unemployment was still quite low in 2016 at 0.99 per cent, it has been relentlessly climbing, with rates of 0.8 per cent in 2013 and 0.9 per cent in 2014 and 2015. The National Economic and Social Development Board said on March 6 that January’s unemployment rate came in higher at 1.2 per cent. About 550,000 new graduates are expected to be ready to enter the labour market this year, of whom 61 per cent have only a tertiary education. However, the economy has been forecast to grow at 3-4 per cent, with expansions in nearly all industries and in private investment.
