The Ministry of Planning announced, on Thursday, that it will conduct a new survey of unemployment in Iraq. Ministry spokesperson Abdul-Zahra Al-Hindawi said in an interview that “It is hoped that a new survey of unemployment in Iraq will be conducted soon,” noting that “the Ministry is still dependent on previous indicators in Iraq, which showed the unemployment rate at 13.8%.” He added, “The latest statistics indicate that the capital, Baghdad, had an unemployment rate of 9.3%,” noting that “Al-Anbar Governorate recorded the highest unemployment rate at 32.4%, followed by Duhok Governorate at 26.4% and then Maysan Governorate by 20.4%, while the least rate was recorded in Kirkuk (6.3%), followed by Karbala (6.7%), and Basra (7.6%.) He explained that “the unemployment rate in the governorates of Kurdistan reached 17.4%, in the northern governorates 17.1%, in the central governorates, 9.7%, and in the southern governorates, 14%,” pointing out that the unemployment rate in the countryside amounted to 14% and in urban areas it reached 13.2%. Al-Hindawi added, “there is no relation between poverty and unemployment in Iraq becpoverty poverty is mutlidimensional, it includes housing, income, education, and health, and a person may be unemployed, but he has housing, education and health services.” He stressed that “the relation between unemployment and poverty is limited only to income.”
