Arab News, Sunday, Jan 01, 2023 | Jamadi Al Thani 8, 1444
Saudi unemployment rises to 9.9% in Q3: GASTAT
Saudi Arabia:
The unemployment rate of Saudi nationals in the third quarter of 2022 has risen
to 9.9 percent, compared to 9.7 percent in the second quarter of this year,
according to data released by the General Authority for Statistics.
The GASTAT report noted that the unemployment rate
of the total population in Saudi Arabia remained unchanged at 5.8 percent in the
third quarter.
This data comes as the labor force participation
rate of Saudis increased by 0.7 percentage points to 52.5 percent, and the
employment-to-population ratio of Saudis increased by 0.5 pp to 47.3 percent.
The GASTAT data noted that the unemployment rate
among Saudi Arabian females rose to 20.5 percent in the third quarter, up 1.2 pp
from last quarter, and down 1.4 pp from a year ago.
According to the report, the increase in the
unemployment rate in the third quarter was accompanied by an expansion of Labor
force participation that outpaced employment growth.
Unemployment rates among Saudi Arabian males,
however, fell to 4.3 percent in the third quarter, down 0.4 pp from the last
quarter, and down to 1.6 pp compared to a year ago.
Among Saudi female youth, aged between 15 to 24,
the unemployment rate fell by 2.6 pp to 27.9 percent, as labor participation
rate rose to 1.4 pp to 20.2 percent and the employment-to-population ratio
increased by 1.5 pp to 14.6 percent.
The unemployment rate among Saudi male youth also
dropped by 0.8 pp to 10.9 percent.
“Among Saudi male youth, the unemployment rate
fell, accompanied by a contraction in labor market participation and employment
losses. The participation rate fell 1.3 pp to 37.6 percent, the
employment-to-population ratio fell 0.8 pp to 33.5 percent and the unemployment
rate fell 0.8 pp to 10.9 percent,” said GASTAT in the report.
According to the report, 73.7 percent of
unemployed Saudi females and 90.3 percent of unemployed Saudi males said that
they would accept work for eight hours or more per day.
“93.3 percent of unemployed Saudis would accept
employment in private sector. Results of the survey showed that 58.4 percent of
unemployed Saudi females and 42.6 percent of unemployed Saudi males would accept
a maximum commuting time to work of one hour,” added GASTAT in the report.
The report further noted that 75.2 percent of job
seekers asked friends or relatives to procure a job, while 57.3 percent applied
directly to employers.
Newspaper advertisements and magazines were used
by 50 percent of job seekers, followed by 48.2 percent who used the Jadarah
platform. 44.5 percent and 8.1 percent of job seekers made use of two government
platforms, TAQAT and Saad respectively.