JEDDAH, 7 May 2004 — Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi announced that the Kingdom’s unemployment rate currently stood at 9.6 percent. He said the rate was based on the latest figures issued by the General Statistics Department. “The unemployment rate among Saudis is 9.6 percent of the total Saudi workforce of 15 and above and totally about 300,000,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying. He said conflicting reports on the unemployment rate was due to different agencies following different methods, some unscientific.
