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The dynamics of labour market — why unemployment persisted

Jun 15,2014 - Last updated at Jun 15,2014

Had the Jordanian population been balanced and stable, the number of newborns roughly equal to the number of those who pass away, jobs available to job seekers would have been equal to jobs vacated due to retirement or other reasons.

But the Jordanian population is not stable. It is growing fast.

The number of newcomers to the labour market seeking jobs far exceeds the number of those who leave theirs.

In other words, the labour force is rising not only in absolute figures but also as a percentage of the population.

The Department of Statistics reported that the jobs made available during the first half of 2013 reached 40,000, of which 15,000 due to people who left their jobs.

The rest, i.e., 25,000 jobs, were generated by the national economy.

The lion’s share was produced by the private sector; the public sector is saturated with employees. 

The public sector employs around 39 per cent of the total labour force, a relatively high percentage.

Obviously, Jordan’s economy needs to create job opportunities that far exceed the number of jobs vacated due to retirement, death or expatriation.

Therefore, the economic growth rate should somehow be raised and the export of qualified personnel to the Gulf states should be encouraged.

The increase in the number of those looking for jobs is not only the result of the normal growth of population, it is due to other reasons as well, the most important being the entrance of women in the labour market in a big way, much more than used to be the case.

This is evident in the fact that unemployment rate among women is as high as 22 per cent, while it is only 12 per cent among men.

The share of women in the labour market is rising steadily.

Several years ago, the rate was not more than 12 to 14 per cent. This changed drastically.

In the first half of 2013 8,000 women were employed, against 17,000 jobs taken by men, an indication that the female rate is on its way to increase from one seventh to one third of the labour force.

The Jordanian economy is under pressure. It is required to generate more jobs to accommodate the exceptional demand, resulting not only from natural population growth but also from the more women seeking employment.

Female students at the University of Jordan are more than male students. Most of them will go direct into the labour market after graduation.

Jordan’s economy will not be able to accommodate the rising demand on jobs under the present low rate of growth of 2.8 per cent. This rate should be doubled if the demand on jobs is to be met, and if the current unemployment rate is to be reduced from its present high level of about 13 per cent.

To achieve that, more local, Arab and foreign investments must be attracted and expatriation must be encouraged.

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