Resource GSS to provide accurate job data for meaningful debate – ISSER boss

The government has been urged to resource the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) so that it can measure and provide accurate data on employment, particularly how many jobs have been created.

The US Bureau of Labour Statistics and other statistical organisations in developed countries provide regular labour statistics to shape nation-planning and address potential security unrests that could arise from high unemployment.

Though the GSS occasionally provides data for jobs created, it has not been regular.

According to the Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Professor Peter Quartey, such data will inform debate regarding which administration created more jobs.

In recent times, there have been arguments about the number of jobs created in the country.

Professor Quartey says the GSS is the only mandated body that can produce accurate data regarding economic indicators.

The GSS already provides data on inflation, producer price inflation, GDP and also conducts the population and housing census.

This helps organisations, businesses and consumers to plan and project their expenditure vis-à-vis revenue and growth strategy.

“The GSS should be well-resourced so that if any government stands and say: ‘Look, I have achieved’, everything should translate into jobs, so, you can measure clearly what extent unemployment is declining, what extent we are growing employment, what extent we are putting money into people’s pockets. And that aspect, for me, is missing and then I think it’s something we need to get the Ghana Statistical Service resourced so that we can have meaningful debate when it comes to impact”, Professor Quartey told Accra-based Joy FM.

According to Trading Economics, Ghana’s unemployment rate is expected to decline by 0.2% to 6.5% by December 2020.

It said the unemployment rate in the country will hover around 6.6% for the greater part of this year.

It could, however, not quantify the numbers but it is believed that graduate unemployment rate will be in the hundreds of thousands. In Ghana, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.