ArmInfo. Economist Suren Parsyan, responsible for the economic research office of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau, calls on the Armenian authorities to take into account the unemployment rate in the Eurasian five countries before talking about the "advantages" of the republic compared to other EAEU member states related to inflation.
"In order to correctly and fairly assess the socio-economic situation, when comparing inflation in Armenia with other EAEU countries, emphasizing our "advantage", the authorities must also take into account the unemployment rate," he wrote on his Facebook page. Referring to the data of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), Parsyan notes that the unemployment rate in the Republic of Armenia is higher than in other countries of the EAEU. Specifically, as of April 2022:
1. Inflation in Armenia was 8.4%, while the unemployment rate was 13.2%.
2. Inflation in Belarus was 16.8%, and the unemployment rate was 0.2%.
3. Inflation in Russia was 17.8%, and the unemployment rate was 0.9%.
4. Inflation in Kazakhstan was 13.2% and the unemployment rate was 2.1%.
5. Inflation in Kyrgyzstan was 14.5%, and the unemployment rate was 3%.
"In other words, it is incomparably more difficult for an ordinary citizen to overcome inflation in conditions of unemployment," the economist concluded. According to the RA Statistical Data, inflation in Armenia in May 2022 compared to May 2021 amounted to 9%, and for the month - 0.1%. According to the EEC, the number of unemployed registered with the employment services of the states of the Eurasian Economic Union, as of the end of April 2022, amounted to 1,020.9 thousand people and decreased by 46.4% compared to the same date in 2021. Thus, the number of unemployed is 1.1% of the labor force. In 2021, this figure was 2.1%.
