Unemployment rate declines by 0.5% in Q1 — DoS

AMMAN — The unemployment rate in the Kingdom decreased slightly by 0.5 percentage points in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same period last year, the Department of Statistics (DoS) announced on Sunday.

The unemployment rate stabilised at 21.4 per cent during the first quarter of this year, compared with the last quarter of 2023

The figures showed that the male unemployment rate reached 17.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year, representing a decrease of 2.2 percentage points compared with last year.

Female unemployment reached 34.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year, representing an increase of 4 percentage points compared with the first quarter of 2023.

Comparing unemployment rates between the first quarter of this year and the fourth quarter of last year, it was found that the unemployment rate for men decreased by 1.5 percentage points, while it increased by 4.9 percentage points for women.

The report further indicated that the unemployment rate among university graduates reached 25 per cent compared with other levels of education.

It was also revealed that 61.5 per cent of the total unemployed population had completed high school or higher, while 37.9 per cent had an education less than high school.

Mafraq Governorate recorded the highest unemployment rate at 23.4 per cent, while Jerash recorded the lowest unemployment rate at 18.4 per cent, a difference of 5 per centage points.

The rate for those aged 15 years and above was 26.8 per cent rising to 34.2 per cent for those aged 23 years and above. Among working men, 59.4 per cent were in the 20-39 age group, while 59.8 per cent of working women were in the same age group.

The report also revealed a noticeable gap in the distribution of the workforce by educational level and gender, with 56.2 per cent of men having less than a secondary education, compared with 8.6 per cent of women.

About 73 per cent of working women have a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with 27.2 per cent of men, and the percentage of female employees in the public sector reached 22.7 per cent of the total workforce.