The number of unemployed increased by 0.1 percent over the year, amounting to 453.5 thousand people in the first quarter of 2023.
The highest unemployment rate in rural areas was recorded in the Mangistau region: 5.5 percent.
Akmola and East Kazakhstan regions (5.2 percent each), as well as Aktobe region (5.1 percent) follow. The lowest unemployment rate was observed in the villages of the Karaganda region: only 3.7 percent. Pavlodar and Abai regions follow: 4.2 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.
In half of the regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the unemployment rate was higher than the national average. The highest rates were recorded in Zhetysu, Kyzylorda, Mangistau and Turkestan regions: 5 percent each. In 6 out of 20 regions, the indicator, on the contrary, is lower than the average for the Republic of Kazakhstan. The lowest rates were noted in Karaganda and Ulytau regions: 4.2 percent each.
The highest unemployment rate in urban areas in the first quarter of 2023 was observed in Zhetysu region (5.3 percent), as well as in Abay and Zhambyl regions (5.1 percent each). The lowest rates were noted in the cities of Ulytau (4 percent), Akmola (4.3 percent) and Karaganda (4.3 percent) regions.
In terms of gender, the unemployment rate among women was higher than among men: 5.4 percent versus 4.2 percent. At the same time, the unemployment rate for women has not changed in the corresponding period for the third year in a row, while for men the figure was higher a year earlier (4.4 percent).
The number of unemployed women also exceeds the number of unemployed men: 245.3 thousand people against 208.1 thousand people. In addition, unemployed women increased by 0.6 percent over the year, while unemployed men decreased by 0.5 percent.
In the regional context, the highest unemployment rate among men was noted in the Kyzylorda region – five percent. Atyrau oblast is next: 4.9 percent. The lowest rates were observed in Mangistau and East Kazakhstan regions: 2.4 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.
Among women, the unemployment rate in the regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan ranged from 4.4 percent in Karaganda to eight percent in Mangystau oblast.
It is worth noting that the unemployment rate among men in rural areas was lower than in urban areas: 3.9 percent versus 4.5 percent. In terms of regions, the highest rates of unemployment among men were observed in the villages of Atyrau (5.3 percent) and Akmola (5.2 percent) regions, the lowest – in Abay (1.3 percent) and Mangistau (2 percent) regions. In urban areas, the highest unemployment rate among men was noted in the Abay region (7.3 percent at once), the lowest – in the East Kazakhstan region (2 percent).
At the same time, women, on the contrary, have a higher unemployment rate in rural areas than in urban areas: 6.1 percent versus 5 percent. The highest unemployment rate among women in rural areas was observed in the Mangistau region: immediately 9.9 percent. The Abay region is next: 7.9 percent. The lowest unemployment rate among women in rural areas was noted in the Pavlodar region, and it is an impressive 4.5 percent. In urban areas, the highest unemployment rate among women was recorded in the East Kazakhstan region (6.9 percent), as well as in the Zhetysu and Turkestan regions (6.3 percent each), the lowest in the Abay region (2.6 percent).
