Monday, December 10 2012 16:21
CB forecasts unemployment decline to 16.3% amid 3.7% growth in real salaries of Armenia for 2013
ArmInfo. In 2012 unemployment in Armenia will drop by 1.2% to 17.2%, the monetary policy program of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) for Q4 2012 says.
The CBA expects unemployment to drop by 0.9% to 16.3% in 2013. The decline of this index will be maintained within the mid-term outlook.
In the meantime, the average nominal salary in the labor market will grow by 5.7% in 2012 and by 11.5% in 2013. The real salary growth in 2013 will be 3.7%.
The salary growth will be due to the increase in the private sector productivity, unemployment reduction, inflation stabilization, as well as legislative changes related to the salary taxes. The unemployment decline will be due to continued growth in the demand for labor force in the country.
To note, on 1 Jan 2013 the new Law on Income Tax will come into force. Employers will have to increase their employees' salaries so that the factual revenues of the employees do not decrease.
According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, in Jan-Oct 2012 versus Jan-Oct 2011, the nominal salary in Armenia was up 5.1% to 118.2 thsd AMD ($294.8), and in October 2012 this index dropped by 0.2%. As of 1 Nov 2012, there were 63.3 thsd unemployed in the country (10.2% y-o-y decline, 0.5% growth in October).