Saudi unemployment rate falls to 7.6%

The unemployment rate among Saudi nationals fell to 7.6 percent in the first quarter of 2024 from 8.7 percent a year ago, official data showed.

The quarterly unemployment rate was down from 7.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the General Authority for Statistics labour force survey.

The employment-to-population ratio rose to 47.5 percent quarter on quarter.

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Saudi male and female annual employment rates rose to 66.4 percent and 35.8 percent, respectively, in between the January and March period.

Overall, the unemployment rate stood at 3.5 percent in the first quarter, slightly up from 3.4 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Additionally, the survey showed that 96 percent of unemployed Saudis are open to accepting job offers in the private sector. Nearly 63 percent of unemployed Saudi females and 46 percent of unemployed Saudi males are willing to commute to work for at least one hour.

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Furthermore, 81 percent of unemployed Saudi females and 92.1 percent of unemployed Saudi males are willing to work for eight hours or more per day, the survey found.

Saudi Arabia’s economy contracted by 1.7 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2024 due to ongoing oil production cuts, but non-oil growth was up 3.4 percent in the same period, according to adjusted figures released this month.