Slowdown of economic activity in Armenia is affecting labor market – EFSD

YEREVAN, February 13. /ARKA/. Economic activity slowdown in Armenia is starting to affect labor market indicators, the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD) says in its regional economic review “Winter 2024-2025”.

“In Q3 2024, there was a 0.7% YoY decline in the number of employed people, while the number of officially registered unemployed increased to 13.3% from 12% a year earlier. One of the reasons for the deterioration of indicators is the low involvement of able-bodied refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh in the labor market,” the review says.

The EFSD's analysts point out that the annual growth of real wages amid slowing economic activity also decreased to 6.7% compared to 7.4% in the first half of the year.

“The highest wage growth was observed in the financial and insurance sectors (19.7% y/y), wholesale and retail trade (10.9% y/y), and real estate operations (12.1% y/y),” the survey said.

Economic activity in Armenia grew by 8% in 2024. Armenia's economic growth is envisioned at 5.1% in the budget for 2025.

According to Armstat, the average monthly nominal salary in Armenia in 2024 increased by 6.4% compared to 2023, amounting to AMD 287,172.

The Armenian government in late 2024 approved the Employment Strategy for 2025-2031, the main goal of which is to fight unemployment.

According to the document, it is expected that by 2031, in particular, the employment rate in communities, including regional cities, is to reach 60.7% instead of 51.2% in 2022; labor utilization is to exceed 60%, the number of employees is to rise by 252,000, to 1.4 million; the poverty rate is to fall to 19%. ($1 - AMD 396.56) -0-.