This increase was observed across most sectors, including water and waste management, which saw a 17.4% rise, power generation with a 15.2% increase, finance, banking, and insurance with a 10.6% increase, and real estate, which experienced a 6.9% rise.
In the first half of this year, the labor market expanded to 51.4 million workers, an increase of 195,700 from the same period last year.
However, 1.06 million people of working age are currently unemployed, representing 2.27% of the workforce, a rate that has remained unchanged from last year. The unemployment rate in urban areas is 1.5 times higher than in rural areas.
More than 70% of workers are also untrained, highlighting the need for improvements in worker quality. Unofficial workers still make up over 65% of the employed workforce, indicating that while the labor market has shown signs of recovery, it remains unstable.
The average consumer price index (CPI) for the first six months of the year increased by 4.08% compared to the same period in 2023. This increase is attributed to several factors, including the rising prices in the food and beverage sector, which rose by 4%.
The index for housing, utilities, and construction materials increased by 5.5%. The education sector saw an increase of 8.58% due to higher tuition fees for the 2023-2024 school year in some localities. The medicine sector also experienced a rise of 7.07%.