High unemployment rates to worsen despite optimistic economic outlook in Arab States [Video]

BEIRUT (ILO News) – The region’s unemployment rate is expected to remain high at 9.8 per cent in 2024, above pre-pandemic levels, reflecting various factors that affect the region’s labour markets such as segmentation, political instability, conflict, economic crises, a weak private sector and demographic pressures, a new report published by the ILO Regional Office for Arab States has found.

The report, titled Arab States Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2024: Promoting social justice through a just transition, also projects that GDP in the region is expected to grow by 3.5 per cent in 2024, with faster growth in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries than in non-GCC countries (3.7 per cent versus 2.6 per cent).

Yet post-pandemic labour market recoveryis lagging behind economic recovery, and decent jobs for the growing workforce remain scarce, maintains the report. In the GCC, there is a segmentation between nationals and migrants, and between public and private sectors. In the non-GCC states, there …