On Thursday, Lebanon’s Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) and the International Labor Organization released a report announcing that the official unemployment rate had increased since the crisis.
“Lebanon’s unemployment rate rose from 11.4% in 2018-2019 to 29.6% in January 2022, indicating that nearly a third of the labor force was unemployed in January 2022,” the report reveals.
He pointed out that the most alarming data lies in the growing growth of the “underutilized workforce”, which was 16.2% in 2018-2019 and jumped to 50.1% in January 2022.
Adding that the average monthly salaries of employees were LBP 2,300,000 compared to LBP 1,200,000 in 2018-19, with an average salary of LBP 3,800,000 for graduate employees.
Furthermore, the number of women in management positions decreased by 2%, from 28.9% (2018-2019) to 26.7%.
The figures also showed that the percentage of students enrolled in private educational institutions fell from 47.8% to 36.9%. Similarly, the Lebanese population with health insurance has also dropped from 56% to 49% over the past 2-3 years.
These figures, published just days before the 2022 elections, reveal the exacerbation of the country’s economic crisis, which affects not only employment but also almost all aspects of the daily life of the Lebanese population.