Russia’s unemployment remains at record low – Putin

The unemployment level in Russia remained at a record low of 2.4% for a third month in a row in August, president Vladimir Putin said on Monday at a government meeting on economic issues.

The head of state particularly noted that unemployment among youth (those under 25) has continued to decline rapidly.

“Now it is less than 9%, after having decreased by more than 1 percentage point over the year," Putin said, noting that last year it had stood at 11.6%.

The state statistics agency Rosstat said this month that the unemployment rate in Russia in August had remained at its all-time low level for the third month in a row. The historical minimum of 2.4% was reached in June 2024.

According to Rosstat,1.8 million people aged 15 and older were classified as unemployed as of August.

Talking about the Russian economy as a whole, the president said that it is continuing to grow. Russia’s industrial growth over the first eight months of this year was 4.5%, he said; the manufacturing sector added 8.1%, while mechanical engineering grew by almost 20%.

At the same time, Putin noted some imbalances in the economy due to “external sanctions and our own structural limitations, including a shortage of personnel and technology, logistics.” These factors are reflected, among other things, in the dynamics of consumer prices, he said.

The government was instructed to develop a supply-side economy, to help boost labor productivity, launch new investment projects and create modern jobs in all industries.

Putin said, citing forecasts, that by the end of the year, Russia’s GDP will have grown by 3.9%, which is higher than the global average. The IMF expects global GDP growth to be at 3.2% this year, the Russian president pointed out.