ArmInfo.In 2020, the unemployment rate in Armenia fell to 16% from 17.1% in 2019. This is evidenced by the data of the RA Statistical Committee.
The quarterly change in the unemployment rate in 2020 was as follows: 19.8% in the first quarter decreased to 17.5% in the second quarter, then rose again to 18.1% in the third quarter and then rushed down to the aforementioned 16%. The same dynamics of the unemployment rate, but in higher percentages, was observed in 2019, when 21.5% in Q1 decreased to 16.5% in Q2, then slightly increased to 17.1% in Q3, remaining at this bar and in the final quarter.
At the same time, according to statistics, the level of employment in the country, increasing during the I-III quarters of 2020 from 45% to 49.2%, decreased in the IV quarter to 47.6%, repeating the dynamics of 2019, when the growth in I-III quarters from 44.9% to 51%, followed by a decline to 47.8% in the IV quarter. According to the source, as of January 1, 2021, the number of employed people reached 967.3 thousand people (with an annual decline of 1.3%) or 47.6% of the economically active population, and there are 184.8 thousand unemployed as of the reporting date, which is 8.7% less than a year ago. More recent data - for February 2021, indicate that 89.9 thousand people were in search of work, of which more than 63 thousand were unemployed, and according to both indicators, annual growth was recorded by 4.9% and 1.9%, respectively. Moreover, there are much more women among job seekers - 58.7 thousand (with an annual growth of 3.5%) than men - 31.2 thousand (with an annual growth of 7.6%). And the same situation is among the unemployed: there are 40.8 thousand women (with an annual decline of 0.2%), and men - 22.2 thousand (with an annual growth of 5.8%). In February 2021, the demand from employers for labor decreased by 48.6% per annum - to 1,674 people, which in turn significantly increased the load on 1 vacancy - by 2.1 times - to 54 people. In the reporting month, 607 citizens managed to find a job (an annual decline of 58.5%) or 0.7% of the total number of job seekers. Of the employed 221 people - these are men (an annual decline of 42.9%), and 386 people - women (annual decline by 64.2%). Note that according to the forecast of the Central Bank of Armenia, updated in March, the unemployment rate in Armenia will be 18.6%, and in the medium term will decrease to 18.3% due to the gradual neutralization of the impact from the economic recession and the coronavirus pandemic. And the World Bank, in its March updated forecast, indicated that the poverty rate among the widest stratum of disadvantaged residents of Armenia, who are able to spend no more than $ 5.5 per day on themselves daily, will amount to 48.3% in 2021 (against an estimated 51.7 % in 2020) and will decrease to 45% in 2022.
