AMMAN — The Department of Statistics (DoS) on Monday issued its quarterly report for the second quarter of 2025, revealing a slight decline in unemployment rate compared to the same period last year.

According to the report, the unemployment rate stood at 21.3 per cent in Q2 2025, down by 0.1 percentage points from 21.4 per cent in Q2 2024. Compared with the second quarter of 2022, the rate reflects a more significant drop of 1.3 percentage points.

Among men, the unemployment rate fell to 18.1 per cent, a decline of 0.8 percentage points year-on-year. In contrast, female unemployment rose to 32.8 per cent, marking an increase of 1.8 percentage points compared with Q2 2024.

Compared to the first quarter of this year, the report showed that male unemployment decreased by 0.5 percentage points, while the rate among females rose by 1.6 percentage points.

The data also highlighted that 60.5 per cent of unemployed individuals held a secondary school certificate or higher, while 39.4 per cent possessed qualifications below that level.

At the governorate level, the highest unemployment rate was reported in the southern governorate of Maan at 33.9 per cent, whereas the port city of Aqaba reported the lowest at 15.6 per cent.

The employment-to-population ratio for individuals aged 23 and above was 31.7 per cent. The majority of employed persons fell within the 20–39 age group, accounting for 58.4 per cent of men and 59.2 per cent of women.

Educational attainment among the employed showed that 42.3 per cent held qualifications higher than secondary education, 9.6 per cent had completed secondary school, and 47.6 per cent had not completed secondary education.

The proportion of foreign labour in total employment declined to 44.5 per cent in Q2 2025, down from 45.2 per cent in the same period of 2024, a 0.7 percentage point decrease.

Regarding labour force participation, which includes both the employed and unemployed, the refined economic participation rate stood at 33.5 per cent, compared with 33.9 per cent a year earlier. Male participation declined from 53.6 per cent to 52.3 per cent, while female participation rose from 13.9 per cent to 14.6 per cent.

In terms of educational background, 74.6 per cent of women in the labour force held a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 27.3 per cent of men. Women accounted for 22.3 per cent of the public service sector workforce.

DoS said that the labour force survey sample included 16,560 households from all governorates, covering both urban and rural areas.

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