Tishreen: Syria's workforce grows amid problems

Syria's workforce has increased by one million to 5 million since 1994, as official capacity to create new jobs dropped, resulting in 70 percent unemployment among the youth.

The official state-owned Tishreen newspaper Tuesday published a report on a study it prepared showing the percentage of working women also increased during the same period from 12.8 percent to 17.3 percent.

The report said the main problem affecting the market was the low educational levels of workers as 68.3 percent of the workforce held only elementary studies certificates.

The study also indicated that overall unemployment increased from 2.8 percent in 1999 to 12.3 in 2004 and that unemployment among youth between 15 and 24 reached more than 70 percent.

Meanwhile, the government's capacity to create new jobs decreased. Some 200,000 jobs were created annually between 1990 and 1995 compared to 160,000 between 1999 and 2003.