tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post1177251832079836109..comments2024-02-29T12:38:32.191-08:00Comments on MUSINGS ON IRAQ: Unemployment And Underemployment Numbers For IraqJoel Winghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-34685616022971218232009-08-13T10:44:47.777-07:002009-08-13T10:44:47.777-07:00Thanks for the feedback. The SIGIR numbers are abo...Thanks for the feedback. The SIGIR numbers are about the only hard stats on the subject that are available. Otherwise all you have to go on are anecdotal comments by officials and guesses, which usually say unemployment is as high as 50% sometimes. That being said stats are never sure, especially in a country like Iraq where there are lots of questions about surveys. <br /><br />I've also had problems with the U.N. numbers. They recently released reports on each of Iraq's provinces and list unemployment for Iraq, for the province, and then for each district in the province. When you do the math however the unemployment numbers for the districts do not add up to the unemployment number for the province overall. Go figure.Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-17068338750886346252009-08-13T09:01:44.117-07:002009-08-13T09:01:44.117-07:00First of all let me say thanks for the blog. It&#...First of all let me say thanks for the blog. It's great and on my reading list each day. Keep up the good work.<br /><br />I appreciate the story but add that these numbers act only as SIGIR and the UN's "best guess" and do not really give an accurate protrayal of the employment situation in Iraq. The numbers posted here are drawn from analysis of surveys collected by Iraq's Ministry of Planning and the Central Organization for Statistics and Information Planning, both of which use questionable methodology, so I would hesistate (which you did) to make any generalizations about the employment situation in Iraq based on these numbers. <br /><br />It's funny to me that SIGIR and the UN would be so bold as to post numbers instead of ranges, and on top of that post decimals. Nothing in Iraq, especially economic indicators can be broken down to a decimal point. <br /><br />Additionally I don't understand how one can come up with a plausible number without the ability to measure employment in the non-government, small business sector. It's difficult enough in the U.S., so I'm not sure how we can expect Iraqi institutions to measure this accurately. <br /><br />My thought based on a review of statistics and anecdotal evidence is that the unemployment rate is somewhere in between the low 18% estimate and the higher estimates that have been put out by organizations such as the EIU and others. <br /><br />In my opinion figures for underemployment are completely useless, especially in a war torn country such as Iraq.Left Coasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11749667286535931307noreply@blogger.com