Unemployment rate in Arab states rising

Unemployment in the Arab states is on the rise, as over 32 million people will be looking for jobs by 2010, a specialized study showed.

Kuwaiti news agency "KUNA" which reports the study, released by the diplomatic center for strategic studies, attributed high unemployment rate to problems facing economic reforms, high expenditures, poor educational systems and imbalance of supply and demand in the labor market.

Citing a report by the Arab Labor Organization (ALO), the study said joblessness in the Arab world accounted for 14.3% of overall workforce. This percentage is increasing by one percent every year and is added to what is called masked unemployment.

The study said high numbers of foreign manpower increased unemployment in the gulf states where it doubled 20 times in Saudi Arabia, for example, over the past 25 years. Joblessness was also increasing in other Gulf and Arab states, a fact threatening social and national security, besides prompting losses estimated at 115 billion dollars every year.

The study said the Arab states needed a strategy to change the investment policy, attract foreign investments, hiring Arabs instead of foreigners and adopting a market-oriented policy.