Economy & Business - April 2007

The decent growth is having an effect on demographic indicators: unemployment and employment in the informal sector are both falling. Unemployment is now, officially, down to 6.5%, while employment in the informal sector has fallen to 46.6%.

All parts of the economy, except for fishing, are doing well. The best performing agricultural sectors are bananas where output was up by 16% in 2006. This performance was better than that registered by non-traditional fruit, which has been booming. The other star sectors were mining, where output was up by 16% in 2006 and construction, which was up by 17%. Demand for building materials was one of the reasons for the strong performance from mining. 

The services sectors are also doing well. Hotels and restaurants had a 13% increase in turnover in 2006 while transport, storage and communications was up by the same amount. The Panama Canal saw an 11% increase in business, composed of a 9% increase in the tonnage going through the canal and a 19% increase in the use of the canal's port facilities. 

The free zone at Colón had a 12% increase in business thanks to the strength of the Colombian and Venezuelan economies from where the bulk of its customers originate.alance of payments: The current account deficit fell from US$782m in 2005 to US$378m in 2006. This was due to a 56% increase in revenues on the services account.

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