Truck and Barter: More on Iraqi Unemployment

August 25, 2004

More on Iraqi Unemployment

By Kevin

I previously linked to an Al-Jazeera report by Ahmed Janabi quoting unnamed economists at Baghdad University who concluded (through means unknown) that unemployment in Iraq was 70%, even though government estimates for the sum of unemployment and underemployment are about 50% (again, these are difficult to pin down concepts, and are used differently in every study or series).

I emailed Mr. Janabi and his editors, requesting the source and/or the authors' names or contact information. After several emails, I received this reply from Mr. Janabi:

Dear Kevin,

Sorry for the late reply. Actually, it was mentioned in the article that the source is a study conducted by College of Economics, Baghdad University. This is my source. The text of the study was published in the Iraqi press. I wish I could get you the text of the study, but sadly Iraqi newspapers have not linked to the internet yet i.e; they do not have websites yet.

Best Regards

Ahmed Janabi
Newsroom Journalist
Aljazeera Online

I replied, thanking him for his time, but asking for the actual source, which I noted I would have translated at my expense. After a week, Mr. Janabi has yet to reply. Reader assistance on tracking down the report is once again requested.

Posted at August 25, 2004 03:59 PM

Comments

What is your source for the comment "government estimates for the sum of unemployment and underemployment are about 50%"? Could you please provide a link to these?

Comment by Rod at October 23, 2004 03:49 AM | Permalink

See this document. The estimate was made by the Ministry of Planning, although I have been unable to get more detailed data.

Comment by Kevin Brancato at October 23, 2004 01:23 PM | Permalink

I should also note that since 2003Q4, there has been no evidence whatsoever of a substantial increase in the unemployment rate, making the 70% figure rather misplaced.

Comment by Kevin Brancato at October 23, 2004 01:26 PM | Permalink

Also, as of July 2004, the Planning Ministry claimed unemployment was 38%:

Discussing the return of 12,000 Ba'thists to their jobs, Abd-al-Latif said:
"The Ba'thists whose hands are not stained with blood should take part in developing their country. After all, they are Iraqi citizens. Despite the pardon, if I may use the term, the current rate of unemployment according to the Planning Ministry's statistics, is 38 per cent. This is not a high rate if we consider the prevailing political and security situation in the
country."

Comment by Kevin Brancato at October 23, 2004 01:51 PM | Permalink