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Unemployment Rate Continues to Decline among Saudis

The Saudi government is working on measures that stimulate the employment of citizens. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi government is working on measures that stimulate the employment of citizens. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Unemployment Rate Continues to Decline among Saudis

The Saudi government is working on measures that stimulate the employment of citizens. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi government is working on measures that stimulate the employment of citizens. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia’s labor market indicators showed a decrease in the unemployment rate by 1.4 percentage points in the third quarter of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021.

The rate of participation of citizens in the labor force increased by 2.7 percentage points, and the ratio of the employed to the population increased by 3.1 percentage points, according to new data released by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The unemployment rate for the total workers in the Kingdom reached 5.8% during the third quarter of this year, unchanged from the second quarter, while it decreased compared to 2021 by 0.8 percentage points.

Based on labor market statistics for the third quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate for Saudis reached 9.9%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points, and the participation rate of citizens in the labor force increased by 0.7 percentage points, to reach 52.5%.

The ratio of the employed to the Saudi population also increased by 0.5 percentage points, to reach 47.3%, compared to the previous quarter.

According to the Labor Force Survey in the third quarter of this year, the unemployment rate among Saudi women rose to 20.5%, an increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, while it decreased by 1.4 percentage points when measured with the same period of 2021.

On the other hand, the rate of participation in the labor force for Saudi women increased by 1.4 percentage points to 37%, while the rate of employed female citizens increased by 0.7 percentage points, or by 27.4%.

As for Saudi males, the unemployment rate recorded in the third quarter of 2022 was 4.3%, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, and a decrease of 1.6 percentage points from 2021.

In January, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development announced the entry into force of the decision to localize customer service professions, and the second phase of legal professions, across the Kingdom, after the end of the specified grace period.

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IMF Appoints First Mission Chief to Syria in 14 Years

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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IMF Appoints First Mission Chief to Syria in 14 Years

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) police officer directs delegates as people arrive to the building during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The International Monetary Fund has appointed Ron van Rooden as head of its mission to Syria, Syria's Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh said in a written statement, making him the first country mission chief since war erupted there 14 years ago.
Bernieh said van Rooden's appointment came "following our request" and he shared a post on LinkedIn, showing himself shaking hands with van Rooden while attending the annual IMF-World Bank Spring meetings in Washington, D.C.
"This important appointment marks an important step and paves the way for constructive dialogue between the IMF and Syria, with the shared objective of advancing Syria's economic recovery and improving the well-being of the Syrian people," Bernieh wrote, according to Reuters.
The IMF press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A source familiar with the IMF's decisions on Syria confirmed van Rooden's appointment.
According to the IMF's website, Syria has had no transactions with the fund in the last 40 years. The last IMF mission trip to Syria was in late 2009, more than a year before protests against then-leader Bashar al-Assad erupted.
Assad's crackdown triggered a full-scale war that left much of the country destroyed before he was ousted in a lightning offensive by the opposition last December.
The new leaders have been keen to re-establish Syria's ties regionally and internationally, rebuild the country and secure the lifting of tough US sanctions to kickstart its economy.
Bernieh and Syria's central bank chief Abdelkader Husrieh are attending the annual spring meetings in Washington, the first time a high-level Syrian government team attends the meetings in at least two decades, and the first official visit by Syria's new authorities to the US since Assad's fall.
On Tuesday, the Saudi finance minister and the World Bank co-hosted a roundtable on Syria. Bernieh, in a separate LinkedIn post, described the roundtable as "very successful" and said there was "unprecedented" interest in supporting Syria's reconstruction.
A top official from the United Nations Development Program told Reuters last week the agency is planning to deliver $1.3 billion in support to Syria over the next three years.