The UAE has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Middle East but joblessness among its own citizens far exceeds the average given their preference for the public sector, (govt jobs) which have easy timings, carry more financial benefits and bring less work load.

“The UAE’s overall unemployment rate averaged around 4.2 per cent in 2009… but the rate was as high as 14 per cent among nationals,”

Some of the projects touted in the Dubai property market during the boom years showed that the developers behind the schemes had ‘lost touch with reality, and clearly lost touch with the cost and value aspect of the development’. ‘It got to a point where crazy projects were coming up, and people thought that the only way to keep up was to announce an even crazier one. There was no longer any concept of tracking the cost or sustainability of a development versus the returns…Not every project can be the ‘biggest’ and ‘the best’.’
A new report on the state of Dubai’s property sector as the market enters the fourth quarter of 2009 has found that all facets remained in the downward phase of the cycle, with prices and rentals likely to continue falling over the rest of the year

It may be local disaster when finanical market started to collapse in 2nd half of 2008, but with the passage of time the cat is coming out of bag. It is Saudis who have managed to PLAY upon UAE banks and dried them out. The Saad and The Algosaibi groups, of KSA are the 2 major groups who have cheated upon the Banks of UAE.

So far, only Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), mashreq and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) have disclosed their exposure to Saad and Algosaibi. ADCB and mashreq said they are owed $609 million (Dh2.2 billion) and $400 million respectively, while NBAD has reported an almost negligible $11 million. “It has been clear for some time that banks in the UAE and elsewhere have been hit fairly hard by Saad and Algosaibi,” said David Butter, Economist Intelligence Unit chief economist. “But it will be difficult for central bankers to take any decisive measures on this affair because it is still subject to some fairly large lawsuits.”

Al Suwaidi is due to participate in today’s meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) central bankers.

Yesterday, he reasserted the UAE is still not considering rejoining the proposed GCC monetary union. “The subject is not currently under discussion,” he said.

Whats does he think of people in UAE… are they STUPID????