Editing Economy of Syria (section)

==Labour==
Syria has a population of approximately 21 million people, and [[Politics of Syria#Government administration|Syrian government]] figures place the [[population growth]] rate at 2.37%, with 65% of the population under the age of 35 and more than 40% under the age of 15.<ref name=USState2010/> Each year more than 200,000 new job seekers enter the Syrian [[job market]], but the economy has not been able to absorb them.<ref name=cp12/> In 2017, the Syrian [[labor force]] was estimated to total about 3.767 million people.<ref name="CIA World Fact Book – Syria's Economy" /> An estimated 67 percent worked in the [[services sector]] including government, 17 percent in agriculture, and 16 percent in industry in 2008.<ref name="CIA World Fact Book – Syria's Economy"/> Government and [[public sector]] employees constitute about 30% of the total labor force and are paid very low salaries and wages.<ref name=USState2010/>

According to Syrian Government statistics, the unemployment rate in 2009 was 12.6%; however, more accurate independent sources place it closer to 20%.<ref name=USState2010/> About 70 percent of Syria's workforce earns less than US$100 per month.<ref name=cp12/> Anecdotal evidence suggests that many more Syrians are seeking work over the border in [[Lebanon]] than official numbers indicate.<ref name=cp12/> In 2002 the Unemployment Commission (UC) was established, tasked with creating several hundred thousand jobs over a five-year period.<ref name=cp12>Syria country profile, p. 12.</ref> As of June 2009 it was reported that some 700,000 households in Syria – about 3.5 million people – have no income.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Peskin |first1=Doron |title=Syria: 160 villages abandoned due to famine |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3735573,00.html |access-date=30 August 2018 |work=YNet news |date=23 June 2009}}</ref> Government officials acknowledge that the economy is not growing at a pace sufficient to create enough new jobs annually to match population growth. The [[UN Development Programme]] (UNDP) announced in 2005 that 30% of the Syrian population lives in poverty and 11.4% live below the [[subsistence level]].<ref name=USState2010/>

The [[Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (Syria)|Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour]] is responsible.