Rabat – The High Commission for Planning (HCP) has reported a 2 percent increase (10.5% to 12.5%) in the unemployment rate in Morocco between the first quarter of 2020 compared to 2021.
Both rural areas and cities saw a rise in unemployment rates, from 3.9% to 5.3% in rural areas, and 15.1% to 17.1% in urban areas during the first quarter of 2021.
HCP reported that the highest increases were in female unemployment (14.3% to 17.5%), and people aged 15-25 years (26.8% to 32.5%).
Graduate unemployment rate rose to 19.8%, an increase of 2 percent.
Read also: Unemployment Rate in Morocco Reaches 11.9% in 2020
In numbers, HCP stated that unemployment increased from 1,292,000 to 1,534,000, or 19%, from the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021. In urban and rural areas, this can be seen as an increase of 185,000 and 57,000 respectively.
During the same period, underemployment increased from 954,000 to 988,000 people or 8.8% to 9.2%. This can be shown as 531,000 to 552,000 people in urban areas and 423,000 to 435,000 in rural areas.
The rate of underemployment for women is half that of men, 5.6% and 10.2% respectively.
