This week we carry a report that the unemployment rate in Libya has fallen to 15 percent, a figure that many find hard to believe.
By some estimates, as many as 600,000 people -- ten percent of the total population -- are employed in the shadow economy; this is about the same as the number believed to be working in the legitimate private sector.
An over-dependence on a bloated state sector is a problem in many dictatorships, and the problem tends to continue under new regimes, as any moves towards market economics are resisted by those with an interest in the status quo.
The general problem of unemployment won't be solved by training and up-skilling alone, but for many individuals this can dramatically improve their prospects. In what it describes as "the first donor-funded intervention of its kind in Libya", the European Union has announced its support for a new vocational education and training programme which should help many into paid employment, contributing to the development of the country.
If you were the Minister for Labour, what would you do to solve the problem of unemployment? Please let us know in the Comments section below.
