The Central Bureau of Statistics said that Syria’s unemployment rate had risen to 14.9 percent last year, a figure that differs from higher estimates by the Minister of Labour but that is still some 60 percent above the 2010 figure.
866,258 persons were unemployed last year from 467,343, or 8.6 percent of the working force, in 2010, CBS said. Last year’s figures are derived from a survey conducted in November and December, the state body added.
 
In December, Radwan Habib, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, said that a survey conducted by his administration put the jobless rate at between 22 and 30 percent. Mr Habib did not give more details about the survey and the very high range between the two figures, in itself, raised doubts about its quality.
 
Estimates on unemployment, as on many other economic indicators in Syria, are widely contested. Data is difficult to gather because of the limited number of people on social security or registered with job houses.
 
The survey found that the jobless rate in the 15 to 25 years age bracket was the highest, at some 35.8 percent, from 20.4 percent in 2010. The unemployment rate stood at 13.7 percent among universities graduates, at 21.4 percent among high school graduates and at 19.2 percent among illiterates.
 
Across Syria, the governorates on the periphery of the country were the most affected. The unemployment rate stood at 38.8 percent in Hassakeh, at 23.5 percent in Deir-ez-Zor and at 22.4 percent in Suweida. The lowest rate is in the Aleppo Governorate (7.6 percent).
 
The size of the workforce rose 5.1 percent last year, from 5,530,801 in 2010 to 5,815,523. The number of people with a job fell from 5,054,458 in 2010 to 4,949,238  last year.
 
The sectors that have lost jobs include agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and real estate, CBS said. While the real estate sector boomed in the period that followed the beginning of the uprising in March of last year, activity fell down again in the last quarter of the year.
 
The scetors that have added jobs are those largely associated with the state: education, health, social services and defence.