0.5% unemployment rate a sign of Dubai's robust economy

Dubai - Dubai has over 2.7 million employed people.

Dubai Statistics Center (DSC) on Wednesday announced the results of its Labour Force Survey 2017. The findings of the survey reveal that Dubai had an unemployment rate of 0.5 per cent in the last year, a figure that is significantly lower than the global average.

Arif Al Muhairi, executive director of Dubai Statistics Center, said: "The results of the Labour Force Survey 2017 reflect the flexibility and strength of Dubai's economy, which has a high employment rate in various sectors. Total employment in Dubai reached 2,778,000 in 2017, out of which emirate's resident workforce numbered 2,077,603 while its non-resident workforce (workforce residing outside Dubai) totalled over 700,000. Over the last three years, Dubai's labour market has added an average of 110,000 people annually to its resident workforce."

The 2017 survey results show that the overall economic participation rate (percentage of employed people in the total working-age population) increased in 2017 by nearly one percentage point to reach 83.1 per cent from 82.2 per cent in 2016. Female workers accounted for the largest share of the increase in the economic participation rate, rising 4.3 per cent to reach 53.6 per cent in 2017, compared to 49.3 per cent in 2016."

The economic participation rate of Emiratis increased by 3 percentage points to reach 51.1 per cent. Emirati men had an economic participation rate of 65.4 per cent while the corresponding figure for Emirati women was 37.4 per cent. These high rates reflect the positive impact of government policies designed to promote gender balance and greater economic participation among Emirati men and women.

Revealing details of the unemployment rate of Emiratis residing in Dubai, Al Muhairi said: "The rate increased by half a percentage point, from 2.9 per cent in 2016 to 3.4 per cent in 2017. The unemployment rate of Emirati men increased by 0.6 percentage point, from 2 per cent in 2016 to 2.6 per cent in 2017 while that of Emirati women increased by half a percentage point from 4.4 per cent in 2016 to 4.9 per cent in 2017, bringing the total number of unemployed Emiratis residing in Dubai to 2,851."