According to the new forecast of the Central Bank of Armenia, the unemployment rate in 2020 will increase to 20.2% (from the actual 18.9% in 2019). In 2021, with the reduction of measures to eliminate the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, the unemployment rate will rise to 21.2%.
In the medium term, in parallel with the economic recovery, this indicator will decline annually by 0.5 percentage points - to 20% (against the previously expected 19.6%). This forecast is given in the Monetary Policy Program (MPP) of the Central Bank for the III quarter of 2020. As for the forecast for GDP for 2020, it deteriorated and is expected to decline by 6.2% from the previously expected 4%.
According to the Central Bank of Armenia, the deep economic downturn in 2020 will affect the labor market by adjusting working hours and wages, while the unemployment rate will have a weak impact due to the government's support programs.
According to statistics, as of January 1, 2020, the number of the employed population in Armenia reached 946.8 thousand people (with an annual growth of 4.3%) or 46.8% of the economically active population (against 45.2% in 2018). As of that date, there were 220.5 thousand unemployed, with an annual decline of 5.8%.
