KINGSTON, Jamaica — The deleterious effects of Hurricane Melissa continued to weigh heavily on the Jamaican economy, with gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 5.9 per cent during the first quarter of this calendar year, according to preliminary estimates released by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ)

The powerful Category 5 hurricane, which struck the island last October, significantly affected economic performance as it left goods-producing and services industries declining by 11.2 per cent and 4.1 per cent, respectively.

The institute shared that the mining sector suffered the largest impact, contracting by 26.6 per cent, followed by agriculture at 20.3 per cent, manufacturing at 7.7 per cent and construction, which fell by 1.3 per cent. The usually dominant accommodations and food services or tourism sector also experienced a sharp downturn of 20.4 per cent, negatively impacted by a 17 per cent fall in visitor arrivals and a 27.5 per cent reduction in total stopover arrivals. Total visitor expenditure for the period declined by 21.3 per cent, amounting to US$976.4 million.