The unemployment rate in Jordan decreased in the first quarter of the current year by 0.5 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2023, and remained stable compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, registering 21.4 percent.

The Department of Statistics in its quarterly report on the unemployment rate on Sunday indicated that the unemployment rate for males reached 17.4 percent during the first quarter of the current year, a decrease of 2.2 percentage points compared to the first quarter of the previous year.

The unemployment rate among females reached 34.7 percent during the first quarter of the current year, an increase of 4 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2023.

Comparing the unemployment rate for the first quarter of the year with the fourth quarter of the previous year, it was found that the unemployment rate decreased for males by 1.5 percentage points and increased for females by 4.9 percentage points.

According to the report, the unemployment rate among university degree holders (individuals unemployed holding a bachelor's degree or higher divided by the labor force with the same educational qualification) was 25.8 percent compared to other educational levels.

The results indicated that 61.5 percent of the total unemployed were high school graduates or higher, while 37.9 percent had educational qualifications lower than high school.

In governorates, the highest unemployment rate was recorded in Mafraq at 23.4 percent, and the lowest unemployment rate was in Jerash Governorate at 18.4 percent, with a five percentage point difference.

According to the report, the percentage of employed individuals from the total population aged 15 and over was 26.8 percent, while the percentage of employed individuals from the total population aged 23 and over was 34.2 percent, with 59.4 percent of employed males concentrated in the 20-39 age group, while the percentage for females was 59.8 percent.

The report explained that the adjusted economic participation rate (labor force as a percentage of the population aged 15 and over) reached 34.1 percent in the first quarter of the current year, compared to 33.3 percent for the first quarter of 2023, with the adjusted economic participation rate for males reaching 53.7 percent for the first quarter of the current year, compared to 53.3 percent for the first quarter of 2023.

The report stated that the adjusted economic participation rate for females reached 15.5 percent in the first quarter of the current year compared to 13.7 percent for the first quarter of 2023, noting an increase of 1.8 percentage points in the female economic participation rate, while the female economic participation rate in Arab countries is 20 percent.

The results showed a clear disparity in the distribution of the workforce by educational level and gender, with 56.2 percent of the total male workforce having educational levels below high school compared to 8.6 percent for females.

The results indicated that 73 percent of the total female workforce had a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 27.2 percent among males.

It added that the proportion of female workers in the government sector to the total workforce in this sector reached 22.7 percent.