YEREVAN. – Past daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: The most “drumming” topic by the authorities of the day, which they raise on every possible occasion, is the "unprecedented" increase in jobs in RA and the no less "unprecedented" reduction in unemployment.

[But] experts have repeatedly voiced that such statements have a purely propaganda significance, and there can be no question of being unprecedented.

And official statistics, in their turn, prove that the number of [Armenia’s] employed citizens in the third quarter of 2021 was 17 thousand less than in 2020.

In an interview with the newspaper, one of the well-known economists noted that even if the claim being manipulated by the authorities that unemployment has been reduced is true, it did not happen on the account of new jobs being created and people finding jobs, but because the number of workforce in the country has decreased; that is, a number that is conditioned by major emigration is presented as a "positive" indicator. For example, in 2021 alone, 161 thousand RA citizens applied to participate in the [US] Green Card lottery. According to the data of the first 6 months of the same 2021, 22 thousand RA citizens received RF [(Russian Federation)] citizenship.

According to official data, 73,500 RA citizens left RA last year and did not return. For comparison, let us note according to the same official data, 36,200 people left RA in 2017 and never returned.