Unemployment up in 2001 in DR

Santo Domingo._ The Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) reports that unemployment in the Dominican Republic increased to 15%, up from 13.9% in 2000.

In its Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2001, the organization attributes the decline to the slowdown in the Dominican economy and the implementation of a new tax reform package in January.

ECLAC forecasts that the new minimum wage for depressed provinces and the use of money from the sovereign bonds for productive works will have a favourable impact on the

economy in 2002.

The report indicates that the Dominican economy grew 3% last year, down from 7.8% in 2000.

For the complete report, see Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2001 at http://www.eclac.org