Rabat – Morocco’s unemployment rate rose in the third quarter of 2023 to 13.5%, up from 11,4% a year earlier.
Between the third quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2023, the national economy lost 297,000 jobs, a report from the Higher Commission of Planning (HCP) says.
Rural areas were the hardest hit by the trend, losing 269,000 jobs, compared to 29,000 in urban areas, the HCP report shows.
Likewise, the “agriculture, forestry, and fishing” sector saw the highest number of jobs lost at 297,000, compared to 15,000 in the service sector, and 2,000 jobs in the construction sector.
The third quarter saw an exodus of 248,000 individuals from the job market, including 181,000 in urban areas and 67,000 in rural areas, bringing the overall number of the unemployed population to over 1.6 million at the end of 2023.
While most jobs were lost in urban areas in 2023, the rate of unemployment remains disproportionately higher in rural areas at 17%, compared to 7% in rural areas, HCP data indicates.
HCP observes that unemployment rates are equally staggeringly high among young people aged 15 and 24, women, and college graduates, at 38%, 19.8%, and 19.8% respectively.
Meanwhile, underemployment, which describes people in an economy who are working in low-paid or part-time jobs for lack of better alternatives, rose by 94,000 in the third quarter of 2023, reaching 1 million. The underemployment rate increased from 8.5% to 9.6% at the national level, from 7.5% to 8.1% in urban areas, and from 9.9% to 12% in rural areas.
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