by Rod Hughes

Economic growth, including a lower unemployment rate, has reduced the extreme poverty of this country from 20.2% of households in the country last year to 16.7%, according to the National Census and Statistics Institute. Unemployment figures fell from 6% to 4.6%, the lowest in 13 years. That is an increase of 29,000 jobs since July, 2006.

The sharp drop in poverty to the best level in 30 years means that 56,000 families, representing 83,000 persons have left extreme poverty status since last year. And along with this encouraging figure is the news that underage employment has dropped and the kids are staying in school longer.

President Oscar Arias is nothing if not ambitious. “If we keep going like this we can eliminate extreme poverty by 2013. Why not? he said after the figures were released, “There are 36,000 (extremely poor) families and if we can identify them, we can give them a hand up with social aid and do away with extreme poverty.”

Although government figures in any country merit being taken with a modicum of salt, the World Economic Forum seems to back up the nation’s economic improvement boasts. The forum raised this country’s ranking five positions in the Global Competiveness Index to number 63 of the 131 surveyed. In Latin America, this country is exceeded only by Chile, Puerto Rico, Barbados, Mexico and Panama. Even Colombia lags behind at number 69.

The Forum survey takes into account a bewildering variety of factors, including the efficiency in marketing of goods, sophistication in financial markets and labor, plus the justice system, education and other factors that make for a good quality of life. (To satisfy your curiosity, the United States is at the top of the list, followed by Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany.)