The Saudi Arabia, which has a population of about 32 million, is suffering from an unemployment crisis. In fact, the latest official statistics showed that the unemployment rate among the Saudis fell slightly from 12.9 % in the second quarter of 2018 to 12.8 % in the third quarter of the same year.
The unemployment rate reached 12.9 % in the first quarter of 2018, which represents the highest rate set by the General Organization for Statistics since 1999, which affected the private employers by the new sales tax and the raising in the domestic fuel prices.
In February 2018, the Saudi cabinet decided to establish an agency in the Ministry of Labour and Social Development to employ the Saudis in the private sector.
The Saudi Arabia is working on banning the foreign workers from some fields, as they make up a third of the population and it is seeking to provide job opportunities to all the Saudi youth and reduce the unemployment rates among its citizens.
The kingdom's economic reform plan of 2016 aims to create a million jobs for the Saudis in the retail sector by 2020.
About 11 million expatriates live in the kingdom, mostly from Asia and other parts of the Arab world. Most of them work in low-paying jobs such as the jobs in the construction and domestic sector, while just few of them have good administrative jobs, especially in the education sector.
#unemployment #Saudi_Arabia
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