Unemployment among Saudi Arabian citizens fell to 12% in the third quarter of 2019 from 12.3% in the previous quarter, moving further away from a record high of 12.9% in 2018, official figures released on Sunday showed.
The data suggest economic reforms introduced by the government over three years ago are starting to bear fruit, although Riyadh's target to reduce unemployment to 9% by 2022 still looks ambitious.
The total number of employed Saudis, males and females, rose slightly to 3.1 million in the third quarter from 3.09 in the previous quarter, the data released by the General Statistics Authority showed.
The overall economic participation of Saudis, both men and women aged 15 years and above who are actively seeking to work or are already employed, reached 45.5% in the third quarter from 45% in the second quarter.
Getting hundreds of thousands of unemployed Saudis into the workforce is a major challenge for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who oversees economic policy for the world's top oil exporter.
The kingdom has struggled for years to create jobs for Saudi nationals. Private sector companies have typically relied on cheap foreign labor and the state education system has prepared students poorly for the market. Many Saudis also prefer higher-paying public sector jobs.
The government aims to create 1.2 million jobs by 2022 by focusing on labor-intensive sectors such as retail, entertainment and tourism. In addition, it aims to make hiring Saudis more attractive by reducing the wage gap between them and foreigners.
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