Job growth slowed to a record low in 2024, primarily due to a slump in the construction sector.

According to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Thursday, there were 26-point-71 million jobs in the country last year, up 60-thousand, or zero-point-two percent from the previous year.

Both the range and rate of increase hit their lowest since the ministry began compiling related data in 2016.

Job growth had ranged between 710-thousand and 870-thousand from 2020 to 2022, before plunging to 200-thousand in 2023.

A ministry official said the slump in construction, which lost 60-thousand jobs, impacted jobs in the sector and other related industries.

Amid the construction slump, coupled with a natural population decline, jobs among those in their 20s fell by 150-thousand, dropping for the second year in a row, and by 170-thousand among those in their 40s.