Unemployment among nationals in Saudi Arabia has marginally dropped to 12.8 percent in the third quarter of 2018, according to official figures released by the country's General Authority for Statistics (GaStat), compared to 12.9 percent in the previous quarter.
The unemployment rate for Saudi females decreased to 30.9 percent compared with 31.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018, and for Saudi males, it decreased to 7.5 percent compared to 7.6 percent in the second quarter.
The economic participation rate of Saudis increased to 56.4 percent compared to 56.2 percent for Q2 of 2018. The economic participation rate of Saudi women increased to 19.7 percent compared to 19.6 percent for the previous quarter.
According to GaStat figures and based on the data of the Ministry of Civil Service and the Human Resources Development Fund, the number of Saudi job-seekers taken from the Kingdom’s administrative records decreased for Q3 of 2018 to 923,504 compared to 1,118,000; down by 195,297 in Q3 compared to Q2 of 2018.
The GaStat figures also showed a decrease in the total number of employees according to the administrative records for Q3 of 2018 compared to Q2 of 2018, which reached 12,688,000 individuals compared to 13,018,000 individuals in the previous quarter, with a difference of 330,000.
The survey also showed a decrease in the number of non-Saudi male employees from the Kingdom’s administrative records, standing at 8,622,000 against 8,927,000 in the previous quarter. The number of non-Saudi female workers decreased by 9,696 compared to Q2 2018, reaching 955,165.
