People who are thinking of taking my tours should do so now since I read in today’s newspaper that the conomic crisis is almost over in Costa Rica. Our little country has recovered faster than the United States.
All indicators point out that the economic crisis is slowly coming to an end and the country is recuparating. Supporting that is the fact that there have been 35.995 new jobs created between August 2009 and January 2010.
The figures were released by the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS).
A poll by Manpower shows that Costa Rica is the number two in job expectations in Latin America, with a 23% net gain in jobs.
Other indicators that the economic crisis is almost done and over with is the fact that 40.000 people attended the 10 days of the Expomóvil, the annual car show, that is really one big open ten saleathon for new and used vehicles.
Add to that is the report by the Camára Nacional de Turimso (Canatur) that hotels and tour operators report an 80% occupancy rate for this Semana Santa.
And the Cámara de la Construcción is predicting a 13% increase in new hiring that translates into 15.000 new jobs in the sector.
Of course those who lost their jobs in the past year see it totally different.
The price of consumer goods, clothing, groceries, appliances, etc. is still the same, while their income took a drastic drop. The economic crisis affected greatly the lower middle class to the lower class, which are still reeling from the effects and don’t see the positive side like the other classes.
However, experts in economy say the country is coming out of the crisis and there will a strong increase in hiring in the coming two years.
According to the Univesidad Nacional (UNA) economist, Roxana Morales, in October 2008 there were 1.391.129 employed, in January 2010 the number of employed rose to 1.405.299 or 14.170 more people employed.
Also, the monthly economic index produced by the Banco Central shows that the economic activity in January 2010 was 6% higher than in January 2009.
Economic experts suggest that the use of credit cards be reasonable and keeping financial order is important, as well as not speculate on the future movements of the dollar/colon exchange rate.