The Opposition People’s National Party, PNP, has welcomed news of a fall in the country’s unemployment rate for April this year, but says focus should be on the number of persons who are outside the formal workforce. 

The comment follows yesterday’s report from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, STATIN, that the unemployment rate for April fell to 4.2 percent. 

This is down from the 5.4 recorded in January.

Opposition Spokesman on Finance Julian Robinson says while this is good, there is still a large number of persons around the country who are seeking employment.

He says the government needs to focus on bringing those persons into the workforce. 

Mr. Robinson believes if those persons can be brought into the labour force, anti-social behaviour among citizens and crime and violence will be reduced.