Unemployed Plan Protests Al Zaman

Unemployed plan Protests

Al-Zaman reports that the Union of Unemployed Workers has decided to begin its demonstrations outside the headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Interim governing Council again on the coming Sunday. These demonstrations were common last fall, and sometimes turned a bit violent. Although estimates for Iraqi unemployment have fallen, the rate is still extremely high. (In the Great Depression in the US, 25 percent of workers were unemployed. In Iraq now it is probably 45 percent).

In the meantime, the Iraqi ministry of labor has issued a report saying that 5 million Iraqis, or 20 percent of the population, are living in dire poverty.