Epress.am News from Armenia
Despite declining wages and salaries and an increasing unemployment rate, economic activity in Armenia increased by 3% in July, Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper writes. According to official statistics, the daily continues, in July 2016, the average nominal wage decreased by 0.5% compared with the same period last year. Meanwhile, the average salary in the public sector decreased by 3.5%. Both public and private sector employees have been suffering decreasing pay rates since April 2015.
The unemployment rate has also been rising. Thus, according to government data, the official number of registered unemployed persons was 79 000 in the first seven months of the year- a growth of 10 percent compared to the previous year.
“This, of course, does not reflect the real unemployment rate in Armenia but the officially registered one. However, growth dynamics indicate that the real rate has also been rising,” Haykakan Zhamanak concludes.