The Economic Census Survey (ECS) by the Department of Statistics STAT produced some interesting results (see related story). For starters only 2,910 of 5,438 companies registered at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (COCI), just over half, were found to be active.
Even if the 813 that could not be reached or located were added, this still seems like a rather low percentage. Moreover, the total scope of STAT’s study was in fact 5,875 entities based on its own mapping of business units and foundations plus from other sources.
Of these, about 2,152 are said to be inactive; a relatively high number. However, it’s important to remember that after registering with COCI one must also do so with the Tax Office as well as Social and Health Insurances SZV, in addition to obtaining a business licence before becoming operational.
The near 2,800 respondents that provided information employ a combined 17,994 people (of whom 8,911 are women) compared to 18,175 before the hurricanes of September 2017. This means the loss of jobs was minimal considering the widespread devastation these two superstorms caused.
Of course, 842 of those persons currently working do so for new ventures started since then. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that in terms of unemployment things could have turned out far worse than they did, and this is something to be thankful for.
