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Ammon News - Jordan's unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percent in the last quarter of 2022 to 22.9 percent, compared to the same period in 2021, according to the Department of Statistics (DoS).

In its quarterly report on the jobless rate issued Tuesday, the DoS said the unemployment rate among males during the last quarter of last year was 20.6 percent, compared to 31.7 percent for females, dropping 0.8 percent for males and increasing by 1.0 percent for females, compared to the 2021 fourth quarter.

The male unemployment rate inched up by 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2022, but declined among females by 1.4 percent, compared to the third quarter of the same year, the figures showed.

In comparison to other educational levels, the unemployment rate among university degree holders (unemployed persons with a bachelor's degree or higher divided by the labor force of the same academic qualification) increased to 28.4 percent.

According to the findings, 56.9 percent of the overall jobless people were holders of secondary school diplomas or higher, while 42.7 percent had educational credentials lower than secondary school.

Unemployment rates differed by educational level and gender, with 28.3 percent of unemployed males holding a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 79.6 percent of unemployed females.

The unemployment rate among the 15-24 age group reached 47.2 percent (43.7 percent males and 61.9 percent females), the statistics revealed.

At the governorate level, Mafraq had the highest unemployment rate of up to 27 percent, while Amman had the lowest at 21 percent, the department said.

The employed proportion of the total population aged 15 and older was 26 percent, with 60.4 percent of male employees in the age range 20-39, and 58.9 percent of female workers in the same age group.

The findings revealed a considerable disparity in the distribution of the workforce by education and gender, with 56.9 percent of the entire male labor force having less than secondary education, compared to 11 percent for females.

The report also indicated that 69.7 percent of the overall female workforce held a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 25.6 percent among males.

For the last quarter of 2022, the revised economic participation rate (the labor force attributed to the population 15 years and older) was 33.7 percent (53.6 percent for males versus 14 percent for females), compared to 33.5 percent (53.6 percent for males and 13.6 percent for females) in the same quarter of 2021.