Unemployment rate declines in Bahrain

The unemployment rate among Bahrainis now stands at a low 4.1 per cent, a significant decline from 5.6 per cent a year ago, according to government figures published yesterday.

The number of Bahrainis registered jobless has fallen dramatically from 17,000 to 12,400, 60 per cent of whom were women, said the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry Undersecretary Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al Khalifa who attributed this decline to a government BD25 million programme introduced in April last year.

The National Training and Employment Programme (NTEP), initiated by Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, is credited with boosting Bahrainisation in the private sector. The initiative has provided training programmes for 2,472 job-seekers at a cost of more than BD12.8 million, he said.

Calling the NTEP a success, Sheikh Abdul Rahman said the ministry formed a committee of staff and job-seekers'' representatives to follow the progress of the new recruits in the private and public sector companies.

The committee met the employees covered under the scheme and collected feedback on their progress at work.