The unemployment rate among Saudis has dropped to 12.5 percent during the first quarter of 2019 compared to 12.7 percent in the previous quarter, according to the latest figures of the Labor Market Bulletin published on Sunday by the General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).
The unemployment rate among Saudi men reached 6.6 percent while the rate among Saudi women stood at 31.7 percent in Q1 of 2019. The jobless rate of the total Saudi population, including expatriates, dropped to 5.7 percent compared to 6 percent during Q4 of 2018.
The results of the survey also showed a high rate of economic participation of Saudis during the first quarter of 2019, reaching 42.3 percent, compared with 42 percent in the previous quarter. The economic participation rate of Saudi women increased to 20.5 percent compared to 20.2 percent in the Q4 of 2018 while the rate among Saudi men jumped to 63.3 percent against 63 percent in the previous quarter.
According to the administrative records data, the number of Saudi male and female employees increased slightly, reaching 3,112,029. The total Saudi jobseekers, registered in the administrative records, reached 945,323 in Q1 of 2019.
