The Saudi Statistics Authority revealed that unemployment among Saudi citizens decreased in the first quarter of this year to less than 12 percent for the first time in four years, indicating that the data do not reflect the repercussions of the emerging Coronavirus crisis as a result of data collection during the beginning of the global epidemic.
Unemployment decreased to 11.8 percent during the first three months of this year, down from 12 percent in the previous quarter. The rate of Saudi female unemployment reached 28.2 percent, down by 2.6 percentage points, while the Saudi male unemployment rate rose 5.6 percent, registering a growth of 0.7 points. percentage.
The unemployment rate for the total population (15 years and over) was 5.7 percent, the same rate in the fourth quarter of 2019. While participation in the workforce for the total population reached 58.2 percent, achieving an increase of 1.8 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The number of workers (Saudis and non-Saudis) reached 13.6 million individuals, while the total number of Saudi workers (male and female) reached 3.2 million, the number of Saudi male workers reached 2.06 million workers, while the number of Saudi female workers reached 1.1 million.
Source (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Edited)
