By Elorm Desewu
The non-availability of jobs in the country has continued to rise, according to figures from the Bank of Ghana, (BoG).
For the first ten months of 2022, the total number of advertised jobs declined by 9.5 percent to 26,595 from 29,380 recorded during the same period in 2021.
The number of jobs advertised in the media, which partially gauges labour demand in the economy, increased in October 2022 relative to what was observed in the corresponding period a year ago.
In total, 3,055 job adverts were recorded as compared with 2,734 for the same period in 2021, indicating an increase of 11.7 percent year-on-year. On a month-on-month basis, the number of job vacancies in October 2022 went up by 17.0 percent from the 2,611 jobs advertised in September 2022.
Consumer spending, proxied by domestic VAT collections and retail sales, posted a positive performance in September 2022, compared with the corresponding period in 2021.
Domestic VAT collections increased by 19.9 percent on a year-on-year basis to GH¢755.53 million, from GH¢630.34 million. Cumulatively, total domestic VAT for the first three quarters of 2022 went up by 20.3 percent to GH¢6,073.00 million compared with GH¢5,049.61 million for the corresponding period of last year.
Retail sales increased by 8.9 percent year-on-year to GH¢118.78 million in September 2022, up from the GH¢109.10 million recorded in the same period in 2021. On a month-on-month basis, retail sales declined marginally by 1.1 percent in September 2022 from GH¢120.10 million in the preceding month.
In cumulative terms, retail sales for the first three quarters of 2022 went up by 4.9 percent.
Activities in the manufacturing sub-sector, gauged by trends in the collection of direct taxes and private sector workers’ contributions to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Pension Scheme (Tier-1), improved in September 2022.
Total Direct Taxes collected increased by 30.0 percent (year-on-year) to GH¢4,004.27 million in September 2022, relative to GH¢3,080.55 million recorded in a similar period in 2021.
Cumulatively, total Direct Taxes collected for the first three quarters of 2022 went up by 25.2 percent to GH¢23,058.72 million, from GH¢18,418.30 million for the same period in 2021.
In terms of contributions of the various sub-tax categories, Corporate tax accounted for 57.1 percent, Income tax (PAYE and self-employed) accounted for 28.6 percent, while “Other Tax Sources” contributed 14.3 percent. Total private sector workers’ contribution to the SSNIT Pension Scheme (Tier-1) increased by 14.0 percent (year-on-year) to GH¢245.89 million in September 2022, from GH¢215.67 million collected during the corresponding period in 2021.
Cumulatively, for the first three quarters of 2022, the contribution grew by 20.8 percent to GH¢2,293.11 million, relative to GH¢1,898.96 million recorded in the same period in 2021.
