RIYADH — Based on estimates of the General Authority for Statistics’ (GASTAT) Labor Force Survey, which was released on Thursday, the unemployment rate among Saudis was 10.1% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, down 0.9 percentage points from Q4 of 2021.

The unemployment rate of Saudis is 1.6 percentage points lower than a year ago in Q1 of 2021.

Among Saudis, there were declines in both the participation rate (down 1.4 percentage points to 50.1%), and the employment-to-population ratio (down 0.7 percentage points to 45.1%).

The overall unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia dropped to 6.0%, down 0.9 percentage points from Q4 of 2021 and down 0.5 percentage points from a year ago. The unemployment rate of Saudi women decreased from 31.7% three years ago, to 21.2% a year ago, to 20.2% in Q1 of 2022. The unemployment rate of Saudi males declined to 5.1% in Q1 of 2022, compared to 5.2% of the previous quarter.

The results of the survey also showed that the labor force participation rate of the total working age population (Saudis and non-Saudis) reached 60.4% during the first quarter of 2022, compared to 61.5% in the fourth quarter of 2021.

GASTAT pointed out that the Quarterly Labor Force Survey (LFS) is a household survey with a sample of about 80,000 households. LFS estimates are subject to response and sampling variability. The LFS is the source of the following labor market indicators: Unemployment rate, Employment-to-Population ratio, and Labor Force Participation rate. — SPA