This report condenses the most important changes in the labor market statistics released by the General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) for the first quarter of 2018 (January - March). The report’s main findings can be summarized in the following points:

• To achieve the goal of reducing the unemployment rate to 9%, a goal of the National Transformation Program 2020, we need to increase the employment by 170,000 annually till 2020.
• Whereas the number of Saudis joining the workforce increased by around 12,000, the number of employed Saudis decreased by more than 13,000.
• In the public sector, the total number of workers decreased by more than 3,000.
• In the private sector, the total number of Saudi employees decreased by more than 10,000. Meanwhile, the number of foreign workers decreased by around 220,000 - 57% of whom were in the construction sector.
• 80% of unemployed Saudi females have at least a diploma degree or higher.
• 60% of unemployed Saudi males hold a high school degree or lower.
• 70% of unemployed Saudis are less than 30 years old.
• 43% of unemployed Saudi females are looking for jobs in the public sector.
• 91% of unemployed Saudis have no previous work experience.
• Aljouf and the Northern Border of Saudi Arabia has the highest unemployment rate with an average of almost 25%.
• The number of visas issued for domestic workers was more than 220,000. This number exceeded the total number of visas issued for the private and public sectors combined.