The national average salary as of the first 11 months of 2017 is 955,900 MNT per employee, marking a 71,600 MNT or 8.1 percent increase compared to the same period the previous year. The NSO added that the average salary for Q3 decreased by 10,700 MNT or 1.1 percent compared to Q2. Average wages and salaries are calculated based on the report of the Health and Social Insurance General Office and 606,300 people working in 38,000 establishments have paid social insurance fees in the third quarter of 2017. Non-standard employment, which does not pay social insurance and taxes, are not included in the national average salary. Out of the total employees, 36 percent earned between 500,000 MNT to 900,000 MNT a month, 17.8 percent earned 300,000 to 500,000MNT, 16.6 percent earned 900,000 to 1.3 million MNT. and 11.7 percent earned more than 1.5 million MNT. Monthly average wages and salaries of employees working in the mining and quarrying sector were the highest at 2.2 million MNT, while the arts, entertainment and recreation sector were lowest at 605,600 MNT. More than 24,100 unemployed individuals are seeking jobs as of November 2017, a 27.9 decrease compared to 2016, the National Statistics Office said in its report on the social and economic situation of Mongolia. The report also indicated that 68,300 individuals were excluded from the unemployment registry due to inactive job seeking. At the end of November 2017, the Labor and Social Welfare Services Agencies have registered 34,100 job seekers, of which 24,100 or 70.7p percent were unemployed, and remaining the 10,000 thousand or 29.3 percent were people employed but looking for a new job. Compared to the same period of the previous year, registered unemployment decreased by 9,300 or by 27.9 percent. Among the total registered unemployed, 13,200 or 54.8 percent were women. Ulaanbaatar residents accounted for 7,000 or 28.9 percent of the registered unemployed individuals, while the Central region accounted for 5,000 or 20.5 percent, 4,900 or 20.4 percent for the Khangai region, 4,500 or 18.5 percent in the Western region, and 2,800 or 11.7 percent in the Eastern region. From January to November 2017, the Labor and Social Welfare Services Agencies recorded 81,600 individuals as newly unemployed and 23,600 people as newly hired. Due to inactive job seeking, 68,300 people were excluded from the unemployment registry. At the end of November 2017, by level of educational attainment, 44.4 percent of the registered unemployed have a high school diploma, 34 percent hold a bachelor’s degree, 6.4 percent attained vocational training, 5.5 percent graduated secondary schools, 5.2 percent completed specialized secondary schools, 2.1 percent graduated primary schools, 1.3 percent have no education, while the remaining 1.1 percent have a master’s degree or higher. More than half or 61.3 percent of unemployed individuals are young people aged 15 to 34. This rate was by 0.3 to 15.2 percentage points higher than the national average in Umnugovi, Uvs, Orkhon, Khovd, Selenge, Dundgovi, Tuv, Arkhangai, Dornod, Govisumber, Dornogovi, Bulgan and Uvurkhangai provinces, and Ulaanbaatar.