Unemployment in Arab countries & among women 3 times the global level

The present critical crisis of unemployment in the Arab world was widely conveyed in the Arab Economy Assessment Report which estimated the number of jobless persons in the Arab countries by 22 million. The report put the rate of unemployment for the year 2013 at 17.4% (quoting Arab Monetary Fund figures) and 14.8% (according to ESCWA), which it noted was three times higher the global rate. Regionally, the report which was compiled by the Research Center for the General Secretariat of the Federation of Arab Banks posted the following unemployment figures: 19% for the least developed countries (Comoros, Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia, Mauritania and Yemen); 17% for the Mashreq countries (Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt); 11% for the Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Libya), and only 5.7% for GCC countries. According to Al Hayat newspaper the above stated report was discussed during the first meeting of secretaries of regional and Arab bank associations held in Beirut last Friday, and attended by officials from some 26 Arab and foreign countries. According to Al Hayat these high rates reflect the negative fallbacks of armed conflict and political instability on the economies of the region. Regarding the unemployment rate among Arab youth, the report indicated that it is presently estimated at 29% that is almost double the global youth unemployment level, whereas figures for Arab countries under armed conflict stood between 40 to 50%. The AMF pointed out that the rate of unemployed female youth was 43.4% (triple the global rate), and that that the number of unemployed educated youth accounted for 40% of the total number in some countries. (Al Hayat, 29 August 2015)