Page 59 - Russia OUTLOOK 2023

• Labour

The unemployment rate in Russia was at the minimal level of 3.7% and
inflation turned out to be lower than expected, President Vladimir Putin
said at the Cabinet meeting in January. "We ended the year of 2022 with the
minimal unemployment rate – 3.7% and with [a] lower inflation level than
forecast," the head of state said. "An increase in the real incomes of the
population should be achieved" and "the inflation downward trend should be
addressed in the current economic policy," Putin noted.

According to flash estimates in December, between mid-October and
November, the Russian economy was able to overcome the short-term
decline caused by partial mobilisation.

The impact of the disinflationary effect on the consumer market was
short-lived. However, over a one- to two-year horizon, workforce constraints
are on course to hold back potential GDP growth, which, other things being
equal, is to have a pro-inflation effect on the economy, the CBR said in a note
in December.

Unemployment that remained at historic lows of just under 4% for 2022

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