AMMAN —
Jordan’s unemployment rate fell by 2.2
percent in the first quarter of this year to 22.8 percent, compared with the
corresponding period in 2021, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
اضافة اعلان
In its quarterly report, the
Department of Statistics said that the unemployment rate among men stood at 20.5 percent in
the first quarter of this year, compared with 31.5 percent among women. It said
unemployment fell by 3.7 percentage points, while it inched up by 3.0
percentage points among women.
Economists explained that the drop was expected
under the gradual reopening of businesses following lockdowns under the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Ahmad Al-Awad, founder and director of the Phoenix
Center for Economic and Informatics Studies, said the drop in unemployment
rates “is expected and bodes well” with the revived economic activity.
He predicted that the rates “will continue to
decline this year, especially with the gradual revival of the wheel of
economy.”
Nonetheless, he pointed out that the decline “is
small, especially since the labor market lost thousands of employees during the
COVID-19 pandemic, and because several sectors are not yet fully functional.”
Awad stressed the importance of stimulating the
economy, partly through setting up mega projects to create jobs. He pointed to
the national employment program, saying it may not have a significant impact,
“especially since it links employers with employees directly and as needed, but
does not create new opportunities for job seekers in general.”
Economist Hussam Al-Ayesh said that the drop in
unemployment rate was expected “because the pace of economic performance
returned to the pre-COVID-19 level, and the sectors regained their activity, which
enabled workers to return to their work or get new jobs.”
... Since the labor market lost thousands of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, and because several sectors are not yet fully functional.
He said that
programs, such as the National Employment Project, had little effect on
unemployment. “They neither decreased, nor stabilized unemployment, and a clear
evidence is that unemployment rates have raised in the past, despite the
existence of such programs.”
Ayesh revealed that there was a “dangerous
indicator”, which points to a “rise in unemployment figures among high school
diploma holders and that unemployment among females is rising as well”.
He questioned the reasons for the decline in
economic participation between males and females in 2022, compared with the
previous year. “There are studies which show that there was supposed to be an
increase, not a decrease,” he said.
Hamada Abu Nijmeh, head of the Jordanian Workers’
House, said although the decline reflected the return to business as usual,
“the goal is to return to the rates that were before the COVID-19 pandemic,
which has not happened yet”.
Abu Nijmeh said that the decrease in unemployment
“is good, but it is not enough.”
“What is required now is to stimulate the economy
significantly, raise growth rates and establish mega projects in order to
provide more job opportunities,” he added.
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