Assessment and improvement directions of economic factors affecting employment and living standards in the regions

Abstract

The article assesses the socio-economic factors affecting employment and living standards across the regions of Uzbekistan using official statistics. For 14 regions over 2021–2025, poverty rates, employment rates, average nominal wages, per capita total income and income structure are analysed. Pearson and Spearman correlation, a two-factor OLS regression and a composite regional employment and welfare index are applied. The results show that regional dispersion in poverty narrowed sharply, while wage and income gaps persist; wage levels explain most of the remaining regional variation in poverty. A typology of regions and policy directions for each group are proposed.