Recession Jamaica

Data only tell part of any economic story. Jamaica has officially been in recession since March 2008 (see STATIN report in Jamaica Observer), with annual growth in decline since December 2007. But, what do you see in the street? Holidays are usually festive and full of well-attended events. But, an anecdotal glance suggests that maybe things really are heading down. Not scientific, I agree, but interesting, nevertheless.

• Plenty of Easter bun in the stores, but more left behind than in previous years.
• Companies used to give each staff member a bun, but now employees complain that a group of them was given a bun and each person maybe gets two slices.
• Churches on Easter Sunday in Kingston were often not full because people would go away to the hills or the beach for vacation. This weekend, they were having to look for extra seats.
• Traffic on the road is usually light but the end of the holiday would see much more as people return. This Easter Monday, traffic remained light.

Sadly, Jamaica seems to have no downturn in murders: 11 killings, bringing the month's total to 33 (see Jamaica Observer report).

Many things have hit people's real ability to spend, the world and national recession, but also special factors such as money no longer available through so-called 'alternative investment schemes' such as Cash Plus and OLINT, and a reduction in money coming from relatives' and friends' remittances from abroad.

Hard times hit we!