More than 1m Saudis receive unemployment benefit 

(MENAFN) The Saudi labor ministry said that at the current time, over 1 million Saudis are receiving unemployment benefit from the government, reported The Peninsula.

The ministry added that Saudis without jobs receive USD533 a month for up to 1 year from the Hafiz program, which was launched in December, adding that the number of beneficiaries jumped by 40 percent in March from February, and by 170 percent from December.

On the other hand, official numbers show that Saudi jobless rate is 10.5 percent, however, that figure excludes the large numbers of working-age Saudis not counted as part of the labor force.

It is worth noting that the Saudi government employs nearly 90 percent of Saudis in work, whereas 90 percent of jobs in private firms are filled by almost 8 million foreigners.