Employment in Russia in 2020: a Controversial Recovery

Andrey V. Polbin – Head of Mathematical Modeling of Economic Processes Department of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Deputy Head of Macroeconomic Modeling Department of the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Nikita D. Fokin – Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In 2020, unemployment in Russia displayed moderate growth over Q2. In Q3 and Q4, in spite of the economic recovery, its index was quite high. Employment was sustained by several factors, in particular the expectations of employers that the pandemic crisis would soon be over. In addition, available estimates indicate that the measures adopted by the government succeeded in keeping down the unemployment in Q2 2020; however, in Q3 and Q4 2020, their effect began to wane.

The article was prepared as part of the state research order of the RANEPA.

Key words: employment, unemployment, GDP, Okun’s law.

JEL-codes: C13, C22, C53.