World Note
Highlighting good economic news, presidential spokesperson Paul Oquist emphasized a drop in unemployment from 8.2 percent in January 2010 to the present 6.8 percent, with 325,000 new jobs created.
Most are in the informal sector, yet formal sector jobs are up from 420,000 in 2006 to 547,000 now.
Rural areas have benefitted especially from a new microcredit program, directed primarily at women entrepreneurs, and from delivery of livestock, fruit trees and seeds to subsistence farmers. Markedly increased exports generated $2 billion last year, with total foreign investment now exceeding $1 billion annually. According to el19digital.com, the government is projecting a 4 percent growth rate, with inflation remaining below 10 percent.
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