168: Jobs have been significantly reduced. What happened in the labor market?

At the beginning of the year, the number of jobs in Armenia was reduced, but the reduction also has a size, they were significantly reduced. In January, 36.5 thousand jobs were closed.

If the number of jobs declared in December of last year, according to official statistics, was almost 821.5 thousand, in January of this year there were only 785 thousand such jobs.

Have you heard Nikol Pashinyan or any CP official talking about this recently or referring to the jobs, indicators about the available jobs? There is no such thing. Everyone’s mouths watered. Meanwhile, not so long ago, everyone was talking in unison about the historical records of jobs.

We see that at the beginning of the year, there is nothing left of those “records”. The jobs were even less than 800 thousand. Do you remember when Nikol Pashinyan announced that for the first time in history the number of registered workers in Armenia exceeded 800 thousand?

“2025 as of September, for the first time in history, the number of registered and paid jobs in Armenia exceeded 800,000. Historically, we have never had such a number – 805 thousand 687. Compared to September last year, there are 37 thousand 140 more jobs or 4.8 percent,” Nikol Pashinyan announced about this “historic” achievement in October of last year.

He does not speak until there are no “historical records”. Talking about record declines is not part of the plans of Nikol Pashinyan and members of the CP. However, in January of this year, we have the fact that the declared jobs are tens of thousands less than not only 800 thousand, but also the “historical” record of September.

In January, there were fewer jobs in Armenia than in September last year. Less than in July and August. Less than in June, even in May.

In January of this year, the number of jobs in Armenia was about 2,000 less than in April of last year.

In January, compared to the end of the year, jobs in Armenia decreased by 4.4 percent. Of course, there is a certain factor of seasonality in it, but never before has there been such a sharp decrease in the number of declared jobs. Last year, the number of jobs decreased at the beginning of the year. But much less, only 15.5 thousand. In January of this year, a record decrease of jobs was registered, 36.5 thousand less than at the end of last year. The pace of job cuts has increased by 2.3 times compared to last year.

It is not known what the reason was. However, it is obvious that the trend of job growth on an annual basis has significantly weakened.

In January of this year, compared to January of the previous year, the number of jobs increased by only 16.6 thousand. A year ago, the same figure was 41 thousand.

These numbers show what happened in the job market. Even the growth of jobs, which the CPs consider one of their main achievements, very often confusing the coming out of the shadow of unregistered jobs with newly created jobs, has started to give way. In January, compared to the end of the previous year, jobs were reduced in almost all sectors of the economy. About 14.8 thousand in small and medium businesses, and 21.7 thousand in large ones.

The largest decline was recorded in construction. Compared to the end of the previous year, the number of people employed in this branch of the economy decreased by more than 6.7 thousand, from 43.2 thousand to 36.5 thousand.

The number of people employed in construction has decreased not only compared to the end of the previous year, but also compared to the beginning of the previous year. 1.2 thousand less people were employed here than in January last year.

It is strange that this happened in the conditions of officially recorded high growth in the construction sector. In January of this year, according to the data published by the statistical service, the volume of construction increased by 18.7 percent compared to the same month last year.

The volume of construction has increased at such a high rate, but the number of people employed has decreased.

How is this possible, probably only official statistics can tell.

In the conditions of 18.7 percent growth, jobs were reduced by 1.2 thousand. It seems that it should be the other way around, as the volumes increase, logically the employed should also increase. But the official statistics are unique here as well. It is not clear that fewer people were employed in construction, but the volume of construction continued to increase at a high rate.

Compared to the end of the previous year, almost 5.2 thousand jobs were closed in the field of retail and wholesale trade. By the way, this is the branch of the economy that provides the largest number of jobs. At the end of last year, 142.6 thousand people were employed here. In January of that year, 137.4 thousand remained.

The next sector with the biggest job losses is manufacturing. Here, too, the number of jobs decreased by more than 4,000. In January, 90.9 thousand people were employed in the manufacturing industry.

At the beginning of the year, more than 3,000 workers were laid off in the field of accommodation and catering. 2.9 thousand workers were reduced in other maintenance services. Compared to the end of last year, there were about 1.7 thousand fewer people employed in agriculture at the beginning of this year.

There is almost no sector where jobs and employment are not reduced at the beginning of the year. Such a phenomenon at the beginning of the year, of course, is not new, the whole problem is that the rate of job cuts this year was unprecedentedly high.

HAKOB KOCHARYAN

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