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Saudi Arabia’s Unemployment Drops to Under 12%

Saudi unemployment rate drops in the last government survey for Q1 2020, Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi unemployment rate drops in the last government survey for Q1 2020, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Saudi Arabia’s Unemployment Drops to Under 12%

Saudi unemployment rate drops in the last government survey for Q1 2020, Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi unemployment rate drops in the last government survey for Q1 2020, Asharq Al-Awsat

The unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia fell marginally in the first quarter of the current fiscal year when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, a General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) report has said.

It confirmed, however, that the data do not reflect the ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic.

It said the unemployment rate decreased from 12.0% to 11.8% during the mentioned period. At the same time, unemployment rate among females reached 28.2%, a drop of 2.6 percentage points.

The unemployment rate for men (aged 15 years and above) reached 5.6%, with an increase of 0.7 percentage points, the report said.

The labor force participation rate for the total population (aged 15 years and above) increased by 1.8 percentage points compared to Q1 of 2019, reaching 58.2%.

Labor force participation for men was 80.4%, while the rate of participation of women in the Labor force was 25.4%, data showed, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The released data do not reflect the impact of the COVID-19 crisis as they were collected early in the first quarter. The total unemployment rate stood at 5.7% in Q1 this year.

Based on the administrative data, Saudi and non-Saudi employees amounted to 13.63 million individuals. The total number of Saudi employees (males and females) reached 3.2 million individuals, 2.06 million Saudi men and 1.13 Saudi females, the report said.

The participation rate in the labor force for Saudis (aged 15 years and above) fell by 0.5 percentage points to 46.2% compared to Q1 2020. The Saudi male participation rate in the labor force fell by 0.8 percentage points from the previous quarter, reaching 65.8%, while the Saudi female participation rate fell by 0.1 percentage points from the previous quarter, reaching 25.9%.

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Oil up 1% on Potential for US-China Talks, Iraq Output Cut Plan

OPEC logo is seen in this illustration taken, October 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
OPEC logo is seen in this illustration taken, October 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Oil up 1% on Potential for US-China Talks, Iraq Output Cut Plan

OPEC logo is seen in this illustration taken, October 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
OPEC logo is seen in this illustration taken, October 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Oil prices rose around 1% on Wednesday, as the market drew some strength from the possibility of trade talks between China and the United States and a report that Iraq will cut oil production in April.

Brent crude futures rose 70 cents, or 1.08%, to $65.37 a barrel by 1311 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was also up 70 cents, or 1.14%, at $62.03.

Prices rose after a Bloomberg report quoted an anonymous source as saying that China wants more respect from the Trump administration before it will agree to talks, analysts said.

The source was also quoted as saying China wanted the US to appoint a new primary contact in future talks.

"A de-escalation of the trade war between the US and China would reduce the downside in economic growth prospects and limit the downside for oil demand growth," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

Adding to bullish sentiment in the oil market on Wednesday, Iraq aims to cut April output by 70,000 barrels per day in April in the face of pressure to meet its OPEC+ targets, Bloomberg reported.

Price gains, however, were limited by expectations from the International Energy Agency on Tuesday that global oil demand will grow at its slowest for five years in 2025.

The World Trade Organization sharply cut its forecast for global merchandise trade on Wednesday, adding that US tariffs could bring about the heaviest slump since the height of the COVID pandemic.

Concerns over Trump's escalating tariffs, combined with rising output from the OPEC+ group comprising OPEC and allies such as Russia, have dragged oil prices down by about 13% this month.

The uncertainty surrounding trade tensions has led several banks, including UBS, BNP Paribas and HSBC, to cut their crude price forecasts.

Trump has ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to impose retaliatory duties on US imports in an intensifying trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

Data on Wednesday showed China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.4% year-on-year in the first quarter, beating the 5.1% expected in a Reuters poll.

"The better than expected performance was precipitated by exporters front-loading shipments ahead of the implementation of US excise duties on Chinese goods and, in all probability, will not be repeated for the rest of the year as the two biggest economies in the world are doing their best to decouple," said PVM Oil analyst Tamas Varga.