YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS. Employment issues are among the priority challenges of the Armenian economy, Armenpress reports citing the National Competitiveness Report of Armenia 2017.

According to the report, in 2015 the average labor force participation rate comprised 62.5% in Armenia.

“In the period of 2010-2016, total labor resources in Armenia declined by around 15 percent mainly due to continuous large-scale emigration and structural demographic shifts that have lowered the number of young people reaching the working age”, the report says. However, according to the report, the labor force participation rate in the post-crisis period has been higher, on average, compared with pre-crisis period.

“The increase between the mentioned periods could be explained by a higher participation rate by women (55.1% in 2015 versus 48.5% in 2005), a flailing Russian economy, and downscaled seasonal work migration to Russia”, stated in the report.

Overall, in recent years, the decreasing rate of labor force participation globally and the opposite trend in Armenia have brought Armenia’s performance closer to the global rate, closing the gap of the pre-crisis period.

Since the 2000s, Armenia has consistently recorded a double-digit unemployment rate fluctuating in the 15-20% range. The unemployment rate stood at 18% as of 2016 (triple the world average) in correlation with economic trends in the crisis and post-crisis recovery period.

As stated in the report, the youth has the highest unemployment level. “The 20-24 age group is at 34.5% while the 25-29 age group is at 24.3%. Lack of effective tools ensuring the transition from education to the job market, particularly in secondary cities, is one of the major drivers of high unemployment rates amongst the youth”.

The agriculture sector captures an overwhelming share of employment — one-third as of 2016.