‘Unemployment rate drops to 11.4% in third quarter’

AMMAN — Unemployment in Jordan stood at 11.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2014, reaching 9.2 per cent among men and 22 per cent among women.

The overall rate in the third quarter decreased by 0.6 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2014, according to a statement released by the Department of Statistics (DoS).

In the third quarter last year, unemployment registered a record high of 14 per cent, according to DoS.

The drop was attributed to employment policies in the public and private sectors which contributed to providing more job opportunities for Jordanians.

Unemployment among men declined by 1.2 per cent, while the rate went up by 1.9 per cent among women compared with the second quarter of 2014.

DoS data showed that the unemployment rate among university degree holders reached 17.9 per cent, while 57.7 per cent of jobless individuals have a secondary school certificate or higher.

Unemployed men who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher constituted 25.1 per cent, compared to 85.6 per cent among women.

On a governorate basis, Mafraq registered the highest unemployment rate (15.5 per cent), while Balqa had the lowest rate (8.7 per cent), according to DoS.

The DoS survey covered a sample of 13,000 households across the Kingdom.

Around 61.4 per cent of employed Jordanian men are between the ages of 20 and 39, while 72.1 per cent of employed Jordanian women are within the same age group.