Though growth for 2022 has been revised higher to 2.0%, up from 1.7%, the Bank’s expectations for economic growth in 2023 and 2024 have been revised down to 1.3% and 1.5% respectively as these adverse supply side effects take their toll. Page - 6 - of 13  Total employment has continued to recover, although at a slower pace than GDP.
The official unemployment rate fell by nearly a full percentage point to 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022 as total employment increased (by 370 000) while unemployment declined (by 60 000). As noted earlier, some labour-intensive sectors have been slow to recover from the pandemic as they depend critically on high levels of human mobility, such as international travel, among other factors.