2 Minute Read by Reuters Staff (Reuters) – DUBAI, June 30 (Reuters) – Saudi residents’ unemployment fell to 11.7 percent in the first quarter of this year from 12.6 percent at the end of 2020, according to government data released on Wednesday, as the world’s largest oil exporter’s economy recovered following a steep decline last year. Saudi Arabia has been implementing economic reforms since 2016 in order to create millions of jobs and cut unemployment to 7% by 2030, but the coronavirus outbreak derailed those plans, sending oil prices tumbling. In the second quarter of last year, unemployment reached a new high of 15.4%. “The overall Saudi unemployment rate reduced to 11.7 percent in the first quarter of 2021, compared to 12.6 percent in the last quarter of 2020, reaching a level below pre-pandemic,” according to the General Authority for Statistics. According to the International Monetary Fund, the Saudi economy will increase by 2.1 percent this year after contracting by 4.1 percent in 2020. Real gross domestic product fell by 0.5 percent in the first quarter, owing primarily to a dip in the oil sector, which reflects the kingdom’s voluntary oil output cuts. The non-oil economy expanded by 4.9 percent in the last three months of last year, owing to a 6.3 percent increase in the private sector. Recent data suggest that economic activity accelerated in the second quarter, according to London-based Capital Economic, which forecasts a 3.5 percent quarter-on-quarter increase in Q2. “Saudi Arabia’s economic recovery appears to have resumed in Q2, and a robust second half of the year is expected if virus restrictions are eased further and oil output curbs are scaled back,” it said. (Davide Barbuscia contributed reporting, and Andrew Heavens edited the piece.) Continue reading
