Saudi Arabia unemployment falls to 3% as labor market expands

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s overall unemployment rate fell to 3 percent in the second quarter of the year, an annual drop of 0.2 percentage points as the economy pushes ahead with diversification and job creation. The rate, which covers Saudis and non-Saudis, also represented a 0.1 percentage point fall from the previous quarter, according to the General Authority for Statistics. The overall labor force participation rate was unchanged at 67.2 percent, but rose 1 percentage point from a year earlie