THE NECESSITY OF DEVELOPING A LONG-TERM STRATEGY FOR ENSURING RURAL EMPLOYMENT: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO ANALYSIS AND FORECASTING

Rural employment remains one of the central challenges of contemporary economic policy, particularly in transition economies where agricultural heritage continues to shape the structure of the labour market. In Uzbekistan, rural residents constitute more than 50.4 per cent of the total population [1], and their productive engagement in the economy is a prerequisite for sustainable national development and social cohesion. Despite notable progress in macroeconomic stabilisation over the past decade, a significant share of the rural workforce remains trapped in informal employment, subsistence agriculture, or hidden unemployment — conditions that short-term policy interventions have consistently failed to address adequately [2].