The Arab Region's Unemployment Problem Revisited

The Arab world is confronted with an increasing pressure coming from the supply side of the labor market, generated principally by the unemployed persons looking for a job, the new entrants on the labor market and the expected increase of the women labor force participation rate. This pressure is compounded by structural considerations relating to the slow labor productivity growth, low demand for skills, slow and erratic domestic investment growth, low attractiveness of foreign direct investment and high dependency on the dynamics of the international oil market as well as labor migration. This working paper examines the main trends in the Arab labor market affecting both supply and demand of the labor force, and presents an overall assessment of the active labor market programs adopted in some Arab countries. It also presents some programs and policies aiming to enhance employment opportunities of Arab youth