Jordanian authorities declared Thursday that a third of the population in the country is deemed poor. The unemployment rates are a cause for concern as well.

According to the “Elite Population Council,” the unemployment rate in the kingdom has risen in the first quarter of the current year by 25 percent, a 5.7 percent increase compared to the same quarter in 2020.

The council relayed that the jobless rates for men in the first quarter of 2021 stood at 24.2 percent versus 28.5 percent for women.

The council stressed that the coronavirus pandemic contributed to rising unemployment due to the weakness of the local market to create new workplaces. In addition, unemployment was affected by job losses and closures of small and medium-sized enterprises due to the lockdowns.