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The total unemployment rate for locals and foreigners fell 0.8 percentage points y-o-y to 3.3% in 2Q 2024, while local unemployment decreased 1.4 percentage points y-o-y to 7.1%, according to a Gastat’s latest labor market report (pdf). The story got ink from Reuters.
How expat workers fared: Unemployment among non-Saudi workers was down 0.3 percentage points, settling at 1.1% during the quarter.
More than a third (35.4%) of Saudi women are employed, despite their labor force participation falling 0.4 percentage points on a quarterly basis. On a y-o-y basis, however, women’s labor force participation is up 0.6 percentage points. Meanwhile, male participation in the labor force remained flat y-o-y at 66.3%.
More women (and men) are working than last year: The unemployment rate for female citizens fell 3.1 percentage points y-o-y to 12.8%, which Reuters attributes to the “loosening of some social restrictions. Unemployment for men was 4% in 2Q 2024, down 0.6 percentage points from the same quarter last year.
Saudi expats are also working more: The unemployment rate for expats in Saudi fell 0.3 percentage points y-o-y to 1.1% in 2Q 2024.
Trends in Saudis looking for work:
- We like the private sector: 95.5% of unemployed Saudis are willing to accept job offers in the private sector, Gastat said;
- Women don’t mind commuting: Unemployed women (59.1%) are more willing than unemployed men (43%) to accept commutes of at least an hour;
- Men are more willing to work long hours: 93.8% of unemployed men and 81.9% of women jobseekers are willing to work eight hours a day or more.
