THE first three sets of official statistics to be released locally this year will give an indication of how the Island’s economy fared at the end of 2008.
The States Statistics Unit will publish the inflation figure on 21 January, the house prices index on 11 February and the results of a survey on job numbers on 1 April. Chief statistician Dr Duncan Gibaut, pictured, said that the three sets of data would combine to show the state of the Island’s economy as last year came to a close.
With global recession predicted this year, the work of the Statistics Unit will no doubt come under close scrutiny. Many will be waiting with bated breath for numbers released by the unit as the information is likely to be used for policy determination in both public and private sectors.
Dr Gibaut said: ‘The first three reports will be very interesting because they cover different areas of economic activity.’
He said that the RPI would incorporate the effects of the interest rate cuts seen in the UK. ‘We run right up to the wire on that and will finalise the numbers on 19 January before its release,’ he said.
