Economic Snapshot 2018

02 Jan Economic Snapshot 2018

Hive Analytics was asked to provide an Economic Snapshot of the CNMI economy during the 2018 Bank of Guam Small Business Forum on Saipan.

Our goal was to expand the understanding of the attendees on the economic context in which they were doing business and to not shy away from discussing the volatility the CNMI economy is poised to experience.

By the CNMI’s size and geography, the potential economic resources are limited, but more critical to the survival of the economy is the understanding of how federal government actions influence the economic choices businesses will have to make.

At this timeframe, the U.S. Congress was discussing the impending end of the CNMI’s transition period into the national immigration system. The end of the transition period meant the elimination of the CNMI-only transitional worker permit (commonly known as CW-1) and the large scale economic disruption this would have on the current CW-1 permit holders who comprise approximately half of the total labor force.

This has since been momentarily resolved through the enactment of U.S. Public Law 115-218 in June 2018, but labor challenges persist due to peculiarities within the law and ongoing questions on how regulations will be provided to govern the newly imposed requirements on employers seeking a CW-1 employee.

Economic Snapshot(update)