Unemployment in Saudi Arabia remained unchanged in the latest government estimated figures, according to a recently released report by Jadwa Investment on the Saudi labor market.
The latest General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) labor market release for Q2 2018 shows that unemployment rate remained unchanged, at 12.9 percent, for the second consecutive quarter.
However, the data show that labor force participation rate rose among females, rising from 17.4 percent in Q2 2017 to 19.6 percent in Q2 2018, indicating more enthusiasm among females to join the labor market. The number of unemployed females is still higher than unemployed males.
According to Reuters, the data suggest Saudi economic reforms have yet to have measurable successes in creating jobs or developing non-oil industries.
Saudi Arabia has made progress in reducing its foreign workforce. The number of foreign workers in the kingdom dropped to 9.89 million, down by more than 290,000 from the first quarter, according to Reuters. The foreign workforce has shrunk by about a million people since early 2017.
[Click here to download and view the full report from Jadwa Investment] [Arabic]
