Tourism Nudges up Job Creation, Incomes in Costa Rica

Job creation in Costa Rica accrued 2.2 percent in 2003 thanks in part to rekindled exports and growing tourism, while take-home pays were up 3 percent, official sources informed.

Ronulfo Jimenez, economic coordinator for the Costa Rican administration, said the government created 12,056 new jobs in 2003 for a 2.2 percent hike in the private sector compared to the year before.

The Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CRSCF), though, placed job creation slightly lower at 1.5 percent for a grand total of 9,563 new posts.

Officials think this slight difference between both figures stems solely from the application of different gauging methods by the Census and Statistics Institute (INEC) and the CRSCF.

However, both bodies do see eye to eye on fixing take-home pay raise in 2003 at 3 percent.

The average salary jumped from 139,430 colons ($330 to the current exchange rate) to 158,028 colons ($373) after docking the annual inflation rate off the wage.

According to Mr. Jimenez, job creation and income improvement were fueled by a more dynamic exporting rate that tallied $6.1 billion in 2003 for a strong 16 percent spike.

Such crops as pineapples, bananas, watermelons and coffee, coupled with electronic components, were the biggest contributors to this year´s growth.

In the same breath, domestic trade is also on the rise, the same sources concluded.