“At the moment, the Uzbek labor market is under tremendous pressure due to an increase in the number of unemployed. Nearly 400 thousand enterprises temporarily ceased operations or reduced their activity due to coronavirus. Due to the country’s closing, about 150 thousand people lost their jobs, while about 498 thousand returned to Uzbekistan, labor migrants who returned now have no permanent income, more than 200 thousand families are now living below the poverty line,” said First Deputy Minister of Employment and Labor Relations Erkin Mukhitdinov.
According to him, the issue of job creation is now a major issue not only in Uzbekistan, but around the world, due to the global pandemic COVID-19.
In this situation, it is more important than ever for us to make enormous efforts to create new jobs, he stressed.
In Q1 of 2020, the unemployment rate in Uzbekistan topped 9.4%. The highest unemployment rate - 9.8% is registered in Samarkand and Surkhandarya provinces, 9.7% - in Jizzakh, Kashkadarya, Syrdarya and Ferghana provinces, the lowest figure - 7.8% in Tashkent.
