What Structure Lies Behind Pashinyan's Claimed 87,000 'New Jobs'?

The newspaper 'Pats' reports: Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated during the campaign for the constitutional referendum that 87,000 new jobs have been created in Armenia since May 2018. This was also mentioned in the pre-election booklet for the 'Yes' vote.

'Pats' inquired with the Prime Minister’s office to clarify how many of these jobs are genuinely new and how many are merely those that have come out of the shadows, also requesting a list of the organizations and enterprises that facilitated the creation of these jobs. Our inquiry was redirected to the State Revenue Committee.

The State Revenue Committee informs that the taxpayer information database registers employees accounted for by employers, for whom taxpayers calculate income tax each month. According to the monthly calculations submitted by taxpayers regarding income tax and social contributions, the number of jobs increased by 87,281 in December 2019 compared to April 2018.

At the same time, the State Revenue Committee reports that the hiring and firing by employers is a dynamic process, and the number of jobs can fluctuate periodically. The tax authority cannot provide an assessment of this, as it may reflect both the creation of new jobs or closures, as well as the self-reporting by taxpayers and the results of tax administration.

The SRA has also provided 'Pats' with a comparison of job numbers as of April 2018 and December 2019, to which 'Pats' will respond in more detail in one of its upcoming issues.