Saudi Arabia:The jobless rate among Saudis remains unchanged at 11.3 percent in the third quarter, according to offical data from Gastat.

While unemployment was unchanged in total, data showed that both male and female jobless rates among Saudi experienced a sllight drop.

Unemployment in men fell 0.2 percent to 5.9 percent while the it went down by 0.4 percent for women to stand at 21.9 percent.

In a sign of limited mobility among Saudi unemployed nationals, Gastat said that 62.1 percent of unemployed females and 44.9 percent of unemployed males would only accept a commuting time of an hour or less.

The total unemployment rate for both Saudis and non-Saudis stayed the same at 6.6 percent over the same period.

Participation Rate

Moreover, Saudi female participation rate went up by 1.7 percent to 34.1 percent while their male counterparts’ rate slipped by 0.9 percent to hit 65 percent. Among Saudis, labor force participation, which includes males and females, edged up by 0.4 percent to reach 49.8 percent.

Participation rate is the ratio of the labor force, employed and unemployed, to the working-age population – which is comprised of the 15+ population.

New Measure

Employment-to-population ratio is a new indicator presented in Gastat’s unemployment released today.

The authority said that this indicator measures the economy’s performance and its ability to create new jobs. A rising ratio means that job creation is outpacing the growth of the population. It is measured as the ratio of employed people to the working-age population.

Employment-to-population ratio among Saudis experienced an uptick, rising by 0.4 percent to 44.2 percent in the third quarter. While males’ ratio dropped by 0.5 percent to 61.2 percent, the females’ rate rose 1.5 percent to 26.7 percent.