ADEN, Yemen, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Each morning under the pale sun, clusters of young Yemenis gather at busy intersections, hoping to secure a day's work before the heat rises.

This daily wait has become a familiar sight across a nation where job opportunities continue to vanish as a prolonged conflict grinds the economy to a halt.

Once home to expanding businesses and promising development projects, Yemen has seen its labor market shrink dramatically. Factories have closed, investors have withdrawn and thousands of young graduates now search for work that no longer exists.

According to government figures, Yemen's economy has contracted by nearly 50 percent, while poverty rate has climbed to around 80 percent. Earlier this month, Yemen's Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Mohammed Al-Zaouri said youth unemployment had approached 60 percent.

In major cities like Aden, Taiz, and Lahj, the crisis manifests in groups of young men waiting near construction sites and crossroads, wishing for temporary work. For many, employment has become a matter of chance rather than qualification.

"Some days I find work, many days I don't," said 28-year-old laborer Ammar Nasser, who waits daily at a roadside in Aden. "No one imagined a future where we would compete for a few hours of work."

Muath Salem, 32, graduated with an arts degree six years ago but never found work in his field. He turned to construction and contracting in Aden, helping build homes and offices. Now even those jobs have disappeared.

"There was a time when patience paid off and you would eventually find work," he said. "Now I spend the whole day waiting and return home with nothing. It is painful to want to work and have no chance."

For 26-year-old economics graduate Nisreen Ali, the struggle is similar. "There is no space for us in the labor market," she said. "Many of my male classmates are trying to leave the country."

Local aid groups warned that prolonged unemployment leaves young Yemenis vulnerable to exploitation and recruitment by armed groups or other informal or risky work.

"The economy is at a standstill, and families are under heavy pressure," said Aden-based humanitarian official Haithm Rashdi. "If youth remain outside workplaces, the damage will last for generations."

And even those who find work are struggling to survive, as wages have lost much of their value.

"A public-sector employee earns between 150,000 and 200,000 Yemeni rials a month -- about 90 to 120 U.S. dollars. With the rapid depreciation of the currency and rising prices, salaries no longer cover basic needs. Many people are forced to take two or three jobs simply to put food on the table," said economic analyst Ramzi Sultan.

"The core of the problem is a sharp imbalance between supply and demand. Jobs are scarce, but those searching for work are increasing every day," he said.

For 35-year-old Hamdi Abdullah, the loss of a banking job forced him to make a painful choice. After months of unsuccessful job searching, he had to sell his wife's jewelry to fund his travel to Saudi Arabia, hoping to try his luck there.

"Leaving my children was the hardest part," he said. "But staying without income was not possible."

Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthi group seized several northern provinces, forcing the internationally-recognized government to flee capital Sanaa. The war escalated in 2015 with the intervention of a Saudi-led coalition, fueling what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.