Unemployment trends in Russia of the 1990s

Abstract

The year of 1992 witnessed liberalization of the price system in Russia (Tseny v Rossiiskoi Federatsii, 1994, p. 5). As a result, all that was hidden and suppressed became open and free to move. This was especially true for unemployment in the country. Since 1992, Russia has experienced growing unemployment accompanied by a decline in the labor force and employment. Accordingly, the paper examines unemployment trends in Russia during the period of 1992‐1996 based on available official Russian statistics. The paper relies exclusively on Russian sources as the primary information on the transitional macroeconomic developments in the country.