Job-seekers rate drops by 4.1 in March

MUSCAT: Unemployment rate fell by 4.1 as at the end of March compared to 5 in February this year. The rate of female job-seekers recorded 13.7 while the rate of male job-seekers was 1.7, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The NCSI data indicated that the age group 15-24 is the most active among job-seekers with a rate of 15.4 followed by the age group 25-29 with 7.7. Bachelor’s degree holders represented the largest category among job-seekers with 11.3 followed by the higher diploma holders with 10.4 and the general education diploma (GED) with 6.7.

Last week, the Ministry of Labour (MoL) said that the total number of job-seekers registered 110,000 by the end of the first quarter. The ministry stated that the unemployment benefit won’t be paid in November.

The MoL announced a plan to provide 35,000 jobs for the unemployed this year through replacement and direct employment including 10,000 jobs in the public sector and 14,000 jobs in the private sector. It said that more than 45,000 jobs were made available so far through direct employment, replacement and work-related training and 18,000 job-seekers were employed for the first time in the private sector.

The NCSI date indicates that the number of national workers with insurance in the private sector by the end of March reached 279,800, a 1.5 decrease compared with the previous month.

The data indicated an increase in the number of citizens employed by the private sector who receive a monthly wage of RO 2,000 or more at the end of March by 23 per cent compared to the same period last year, bringing their number to 21,700. The number of national workers who receive a monthly wage between RO 500 and RO 600 increased by 9.7 per cent to 38,000 whereas those who receive a monthly salary between RO 1,000 and RO 2,000 reached 37,000, an increase of 6.4 per cent.

Citizens receiving a monthly salary between RO 400 and RO 500 decreased by 1.1 per cent compared to March 2022 bringing their number to 50,000 workers.

The total number of expat workforce reached 1.7 million by the end of the first quarter including 1.3 million in the private sector, 44,000 in the public sector and 323,000 workers in the household sector.