The number of jobs created during the first half of 2016 increased by 50 percent compared to the same period the previous year, according to recent figures by the Department of Statistics.

The DoS said 26,000 jobs were created during the first six months of 2016 compared to 17,000 in the first half of 2015. The number of jobs filled by men reached 20,000, while the remainder went to women.

Jordan has suffered from sluggish growth and rising unemployment over recent years. Ahmad Awad, head of the Phenix Center for Economic and Infomatics Studies is hopeful the strong job creation figures is a sign a good things to come. “This looks positive and we hope it reflects positively on the coming years and the overall economic indicators,” he said.

The majority of jobs—70 percent—were created by the private sector, compared to 60 percent the previous year, although this did not include jobs created by the NGO sector. Additionally, almost 70 percent of the jobs were filled by young employees between the ages of 20 to 29, and 84.7 percent of the jobs went to Jordanians.

Awad criticized the delay in issuing these figures, saying for the government to be able to predict future paths for the Jordanian economy, figures should not be a year old.