BEIJING, CHINA – The head of the International Monetary Fund on Sunday called on China to implement "a comprehensive package of pro-market reforms" to boost a sluggish economy beset by a housing market crisis, low domestic demand and persistently high youth unemployment. Chinese policymakers have so far resisted calls to juice...

Tunisians usually prepare for Ramadan -- when daytime fasting is followed by festive but often costly meals with family and friends -- by stocking up on large amounts of food. But this year things are different, with purchasing power greatly diminished because of soaring prices, a recession and rising unemployment.

Head of Tunisia's trade union confederation Noureddine Taboubi said in a speech to protestors that the economic and social situation continues to worsen in the country, slamming the implementation of "diktats from the International Monetary Fund" (IMF) at the expense of ordinary Tunisians.

As the West Bank grapples with its worst economic crisis in two decades, sparked by Israel's ban on Palestinian day laborers, poverty and despair escalate.

Launched by the Islamic Culture Foundation in 2018, Bouregreg Med-O-Med school provides free training to dropouts and other marginalized youths threatened with unemployment. Every year, the school takes in up to 90 apprentices, "young people who come from complicated family situations... and from really precarious and difficult surrounding neighborhoods, said...

Beirut, Lebanon -- At least 61 per cent of employment, equivalent to 182,000 jobs, has been lost in the Gaza Strip since the start of the current Israel-Hamas war, a new ILO report estimates. The conflict in Gaza is also having a spillover effect in the West Bank, where an...

BEIJING, CHINA - Chinese developer Country Garden has won approval from creditors to extend a deadline for a key bond repayment, narrowly avoiding a potential default, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. One of China's biggest builders, Country Garden had racked up debts estimated at 1.43 trillion yuan ($196 billion) by the end...

Brussels, Belgium - The annual rate of inflation in the eurozone remained unchanged in August as there was a smaller drop in energy prices, the EU's official statistics agency said Thursday. Consumer prices reached 5.3 percent in August, although there was also a slowdown in the rise of food and drinks...

Almost half of Arab youth are keen on starting their own businesses in the next five years, signaling a significant preference shift from government to private sector jobs.

Egypt's economy is grappling with a myriad of challenges, including rising inflation, currency depreciation and high debt. TRENDS delves into the depths of the crisis.

Egypt's economy is grappling with a myriad of challenges, including rising inflation, currency depreciation and high debt. TRENDS delves into the depths of the crisis.

The Kingdom has the highest economic growth among the G20 countries in 2022, driven by strong oil production and non-oil sector growth, says the latest IMF report.

The Labor Force Sample Survey for the October-December 2022 period shows the percentage of male and female wage workers reached 82.6 percent and17.4 percent, respectively. The average monthly wage was QR 11,724 ($3,220).

Since the launch of Vision 2030, the kingdom's unemployment rate has notably dropped due to economic development, job localization, and greater women participation in labor market.

US job gains eased in March for a second straight month, government data showed, adding to signs that the economy is cooling as policymakers push on in their fight against inflation. The country added 236,000 jobs in March, slightly less than expected, while the unemployment rate inched down to 3.5...

Dubai, UAE -- Saudi Arabia's unemployment rate dropped in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the previous quarter, mainly due to government activities and private sector hiring, the kingdom's General Authority for Statistics said Thursday. Saudi Press Agency reported that despite the global economic challenges, including those prevailing in...

Brussels, Belgium - The eurozone annual inflation rate fell to 8.5 percent in February, the EU's statistics agency said Thursday, but the drop was less than expected as food costs soar. Inflation was down last month from 8.6 percent in January but analysts at financial data firm FactSet had forecast...

Despite the challenges of the digital transition in some MENA countries and the rising unemployment, about 90% of professionals in the region remain enthusiastic about 2023.

The government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani took over from Kadhemi in October and has made regular announcements about the major corruption case to showcase its determination to fight graft. The top echelons of power routinely evade accountability in Iraqi corruption cases.

The UAE - like other oil-rich Arab Gulf states - has often used the public sector as an employment vehicle for its nationals. But times are changing, said 34-year-old Emirati researcher Khalifa al-Suwaidi, who has himself been looking for a private sector job since quitting a government post in June....

Global stocks rose as Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell flagged a moderation in interest rate hikes, while China signaled a softer approach to fighting Covid. Asian and European equities tacked higher as investors eyed news that eurozone unemployment fell to a record 6.5 percent in October. Oil prices climbed before...

When a branch of the Byblos bank opened in the southern town of Ghaziyeh, a depositor, reported to be in his 50s, stormed the premises with his adult son. He threatened bank employs with a gun, which a Lebanese TV channel said may have been a toy, and demanded his...

It's an economic and practical solution in a territory blockaded by Israel for 15 years, but one which poses serious environmental and health risks, experts say. Standing before rusty metal machinery and fuel containers, Mahmoud al-Kafarneh described how he and his brothers came up with their plastic recycling project.

Iraq has been ravaged by decades of conflict and endemic corruption. It is blighted by ailing infrastructure, power cuts and crumbling public services, and now faces water shortages as drought ravages swathes of the country

The figure is still six million higher than the pre-pandemic level of 2019, with the recovery in youth unemployment lagging behind the bounceback in other age groups. Between 2019 and 2020, those aged 15 to 24 experienced a much higher percentage loss in employment than the rest of the labor...

US central bankers face an increasingly difficult balancing act as they struggle to douse scorching inflation while still keeping the economy growing, though they have made it clear they are willing to risk a recession.

The Gulf countries have taken several measures to increase the local employment, especially in UAE and Saudi Arabia. This week's TRENDS Infographic looks at job situation in the region.

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Tuesday urged the International Monetary Fund to take into account the social impact of any economic reforms it may demand as part of a bailout package.

The insurance is being hailed as a step in increasing the attractiveness of the UAE labor market and its ability to attract local and international talent.

The official unemployment rate in crisis-hit Lebanon jumped almost three-fold to reach 29.6 percent at the start of the year, a joint survey by the UN and the government said Thursday. "Lebanon's unemployment rate increased from 11.4 percent in 2018-2019 to 29.6 percent in January 2022, indicating that almost one...

The United States saw another strong month of hiring in April, with the economy adding a better-than-expected 428,000 jobs and the unemployment rate remaining at a low 3.6 percent.

The unemployment rate in the eurozone reached its lowest level ever recorded in March, the EU's official statistics agency said on Tuesday. Eurostat said 6.8 percent of the workforce were without a job, down 0.1 percentage point from February. The February figure was revised upwards fractionally from the 6.8 percent...

A grant of $2.4 million from the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) will help increase economic opportunities and improve the livelihoods of Palestinians in fragile communities along the Palestinian Heritage Trail across the West Bank, according to a World Bank press release. The World Bank project, Palestinian media reports said,...

The unemployment rate among Saudi citizens reduced to 11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021. The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) released the "Labor Market Statistics Q4, 2021, on its official website which revealed this data. The unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage points (pp) from Q3/2021, and lower...

Tunisia is facing major structural challenges that result in deep macroeconomic disequilibria, a weak growth in spite of its strong potential, a high unemployment rate, weak investment, and social inequality, International Monetary Fund has said. The impact of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are now adding to these...

Bahrain government has provided unemployment benefits to 31,099 citizens in 2021, according to the country’s Labor Minister Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan. He said the unemployment benefit has not been discontinued for any beneficiary who meets the eligibility conditions in accordance with the Unemployment Insurance Law. Humaidan said amendments have...

A $510 million Humanitarian Response Plan was launched on Thursday to support 1.6 million of the most vulnerable people in Gaza and in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during 2022. Palestinian media reports said the plan was launched by the Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Lynn Hastings....

Women and children were among the group intercepted Friday by a navy patrol off the coast of Qalamoun in northern Lebanon, the army says

Iraqi wheat farmer Khamis Ahmad Abbas lost it all when his battle with drought forced him to abandon his land, pushing him into unemployment.

The lack of progress towards peace and reconciliation and Covid-19 caused an unsustainable economic situation in the Palestinian territories.

The oil prices would average US$70 per barrel in 2021, Garbis Iradian, chief economist for MENA at IIF, tells TRENDS in an exclusive interview.

A drop in Saudi joblessness during the second quarter of the current fiscal year from 11.7 percent to 11.3 percent is seen as a sign of a healing economy, according to investment bank Jadwa.

The polls were initially scheduled for 2022, but moved forward to June this year, then postponed to October.

While joblessness will be a worry, the economies of the GCC countries are expected to grow by about 2.5 percent between 2021 and 2023.

Gross credit, which includes which includes loans to residents and non-residents and non-banking financial institutions up by 0.9 percent compared to March.

Some 200,000 expats leave Oman as country wrestles with rising unemployment The Coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices last year drove the exodus Some 200,000 foreign workers left Oman in a year as the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices dealt a blow to Omani economy, and the country now...