Arab News, Tuesday, Dec 21, 2021 | Jumada Al-Uola 16, 1443
Saudi unemployment rate remains unchanged at 11.3% in 3Q
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.