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Unemployment plague tightens around Armenia

26 May 2015 [14:50] - TODAY.AZ

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

As Armenian economy further descends into social chaos, the country has seen unemployment spikes over the past months to now reach a worrying approximately 18 percent of the total population.

Armenia’s unemployment rate in 2014 increased by 1.4 percentage points, reaching 17.6 percent, reads the report on the implementation of the 2014-state budget of Armenia.

The rising tendency of unemployment among Armenia’s 2.9 million-population has become a pandemic problem which threatens to generate social dysfunction in society.

The latest statistical data reported that the share of poor people represents 32 percent of the country's overall population. Having a direct link with widespread poverty, unemployment mostly affects the poorest and most vulnerable segments of society.

The number of unemployed people in the country is expected to increase further in 2015.

The figure was 69,700, or 91.2 percent of the total number of job seekers in Armenia as of March 1, 2015, according to Ara Petrosyan, Armenia’s deputy minister of labor and social affairs.

Also, he said that the indicator increased by 21.2 percent in early April compared to the same period in 2014.

Some 76.400 people, of whom 53.300 are women and 18.300 representatives of the younger generation, were looking for work in Armenia as of March 1, 2015. Compared with the figure for the same period last year it increased by 19 percent, according to Armenia’s state employment agency.

The number of unemployment among women is especially high. Unemployment rate among women remains high with 71 percent of the total number of unemployed (49, 500 people). Moreover, unemployment among the young generation is a matter of serious concern as unemployment has reached 24 percent or 16,700 people, for this segment of the population, including people with disabilities - 3.1 percent, or 2,100 people.

However, growing unemployment is not the only problem Armenia has to face. Armenia's economy has dramatically deteriorated over the past several years and economic indicators are worsening day by day.

In addition, the state budget deficit in Armenia amounted to two percent of the country’s GDP in 2014. The budget deficit rose compared to 2013 by 1.7percent.

The level of expenditure has also increased in 2014 compared to 2013. It amounted to 27.3 percent of the GDP, which is 0.6 percentage point higher compared to the same period in 2013. Also, the current expenses amounted to 24.3 percent of GDP compared to 23.8percent in 2013. The increase of the spending reported is due to an increase in the provision for benefits and pensions, as well as an increase in the purchases of goods and services.

All this came as Armenia’s Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan has recently assured his countrymen that the nation will register growth in 2015.

He said the country has for the first four months of the year recorded a 2.2-2.3 percent growth economic activity. Abrahamyan even claimed that the government will try to reach 4.1 percent economic growth.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/141003.html

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