23 Mar 2004

PNG reports rapid employment growth

3:49 pm on 23 March 2004

The Bank of Papua New Guinea says that employment in the country is growing at unprecedented rates.

In a statement on the quarterly economic bulletin for December, Central Bank Governor Wilson Kamit says jobs in the formal private sector have grown faster than they had in several decades.

Employment had risen by 9.6 percent in the nine months to September, compared to 3.3 per in the same period in 2002.

But these figures excluded jobs in the mining and petroleum sectors and in Bougainville.

Mr Kamit says the increase reflects higher employment levels in all sectors of the economy, except financial and business services.

There were more jobs created in all regions of the country, with job shedding occurring only in the National Capital District.