A total of 59,504 jobs were created in the first half of the year as a result of job-creating interventions instituted by the Government, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced.

The agricultural sector created the highest jobs of 43,159, representing 72.53 per cent of the total jobs created, mainly as a result of the mass cocoa spraying exercise and the President’s Special Initiative (PSI) on cassava.

The services sector followed with 9,758 jobs, accounting for 16.4 per cent of total jobs created, bolstered by the national voluntary programme under the national service scheme, micro-finance and small loans schemes as well as the operations of the Metro Mass Transit.

The industrial sector, which is mostly the highest employer in advanced countries, employed 6,187, otherwise 11.1 per cent in Ghana’s case.

The deputy government statistician, Professor N.N.N. Nsowah-Nkrumah, who announced this at a news conference in Accra, explained that job losses in the first half of the year had not been factored into the determination and that on Tuesday the next exercise would incorporate job losses as well.

The GSS adopted International Labour Organisation (ILO) approved job creation tracking measures and developed instruments to capture data from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).