Iraq's young jobless threaten stability, report says
More than a fourth of young men are out of work, a U.N. report says. Unemployment statistics illustrate the difficulty of attracting investment to a country still viewed as a risky environment.
Reporting from Baghdad — More than one-fourth of Iraq's young men are out of work, a situation that is likely to worsen and that threatens the country's long-term stability, according to a dismal economic forecast today from U.N. and non-governmental agencies.
Overall, the country's unemployment rate is 18%, but an additional 10% of the labor force is employed part-time and wanting to work more, said the first Iraq Labor Force Analysis, which cited falling oil prices and a weak public sector as major problems facing the nation.
Among its findings: 28% of males age 15 to 29 are unemployed; 17% of women have jobs; and most of the 450,000 Iraqis entering the job market this year won't find work "without a concerted effort to boost the private sector."
The analysis was released by the United Nations' Information Analysis Unit and is based on government, banking, and other statistics from 11 U.N. agencies and four independent organizations.
The statistics highlight the difficulties of luring foreign investment to Iraq and encouraging business start-ups in a country safer than at any time in the last five years, but still viewed as a risky endeavor by outsiders and by wealthy Iraqis who left during the war.
The findings also bode ill for government vows to locate employment for nearly 100,000 Sons of Iraq -- the mainly Sunni Arab paramilitary force, many of whose members once supported the insurgency but who have been paid about $300 a month to bolster security alongside U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Late last year, the United States began handing control of the program to Iraq's government. Both sides have said the key to the hand-over succeeding and to preventing Sons of Iraq from returning to violence is finding them work.
With private sector employment lagging, most Iraqis have turned to the government for employment. Public sector employment has doubled since 2005 and now accounts for 60% of full-time jobs. But falling oil prices "make this level of public employment unsustainable," the report said
Oil provides 90% of Iraq's revenue, and prices have dropped more than $100 a barrel since July to just below $40. When oil prices were at their peak, the government announced raises ranging from 50% to 100% to retain civil servants and lure back doctors, teachers, and others who had fled during the war.
