Net job creation for Jordanians reached 87,617 in 2025, the highest figure in the Kingdom’s history, according to a semi-annual report released by the Department of Statistics. Jordanians filled approximately 91 percent of these newly created positions.
The report found that net job creation during the second half of 2025 totaled 46,719 positions, with Jordanians again accounting for about 91 percent of the total. Of these new opportunities, 73.1 percent were created in the private sector. Workers aged 20 to 29 took the largest share, filling 36,829 positions, or 78.8 percent of the total.
Women made up half of the net new jobs created among university graduates during the period, the report showed. Education accounted for 24.8 percent of these opportunities, followed by public administration at 13.3 percent.
Jordan’s overall unemployment rate, covering both Jordanians and non-Jordanians, fell to 16.1 percent in the second quarter of 2026. Economists interviewed by Al-Ghad described the decline as a positive signal for the labor market, pointing to parallel improvements in exports, industrial output and ongoing investment projects.
Economists Point to Productive Sectors as Key Driver
Yousef Mansour, a former minister of state for economic affairs, said the drop in unemployment reflects stronger economic activity and an improved capacity among productive sectors to generate jobs. He noted that unemployment among Jordanians fell to 21 percent, while the rate for the total population dropped to 16.1 percent, calling the trend evidence of a broader improvement in the labor market.
Mansour said the decline in unemployment among Jordanians over the age of 24, a group that includes many university graduates, suggests the economy is better absorbing skilled workers. He linked the sustained decline in joblessness over recent years to growth in industry, manufacturing, production and exports.
Mansour called for continued investment and development projects, adding that job creation depends on stimulating production and expanding ventures that generate long-term value. He pointed to the Risha gas field development project as a potential turning point for the national economy if it succeeds in delivering competitively priced domestic energy.
On public finances, Mansour said falling debt servicing costs, with interest payments dropping from around 396 million dinars to about 292 million dinars, reflect improved debt management and give the government more room to direct resources toward development.
Munir Diya, an economic expert, said the decline in unemployment among Jordanians to 21 percent in the second quarter, down from 21.3 percent a year earlier, alongside the drop in the overall rate to 16.1 percent, points to improved macroeconomic performance. He attributed the trend partly to government-led projects in water, transportation, logistics, infrastructure and energy, along with private-sector partnerships.
Diya said more than 80 percent of newly created jobs originate in the private sector, and called for deeper public-private partnerships and fewer obstacles to private investment. He identified agriculture, industry, services, trade and transportation as sectors with room to absorb more workers, and urged Jordan to capitalize on access to Syrian and Iraqi markets as well as trade ties with the European Union and China.
Diya also pointed to manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, potash and phosphates as sectors capable of generating substantial employment, and called for aligning university and vocational training with labor market demand.
Wajdi Makhameh, another economic expert, said the decline in unemployment, particularly among Jordanian men, reflects a gradual improvement in the economy’s capacity to absorb new labor market entrants. He said sustaining the trend could strengthen confidence in the economy’s ability to keep generating jobs.
Makhameh linked labor market improvement directly to growth in industry, manufacturing, exports and investment, noting that industrial expansion also drives demand in related sectors such as logistics and supply chains. He said maintaining the downward trend in unemployment will depend on strengthening the private sector’s role, given the public sector’s limited capacity to absorb new workers.
Source: Al-Ghad, citing data from Jordan’s Department of Statistics.
