Rabat — Morocco’s national unemployment rate fell to 12.8% in the second quarter of 2025, down from 13.1% during the same period last year.
The High Commission for Planning (HCP) released these figures, showing the first decline after several quarters of rising joblessness.
Job creation in urban areas drove this slight national improvement. Cities created 114,000 new jobs, helping reduce urban unemployment from 16.7% to 16.4%.
In detail, the construction sector led job creation with 74,000 new positions, followed by services with 35,000 jobs and industry with 10,000 posts.
The country added 132,000 paid jobs nationwide, signaling a slight strengthening of the formal job market.
Meanwhile, the urban progress contrasts sharply with rural areas, where employment continues to struggle.
HCP data indicate that rural regions lost 107,000 jobs, mainly due to agricultural sector cuts that eliminated 108,000 positions. While rural unemployment paradoxically dropped to 6.2%, this reflects people leaving the job market rather than finding work. Many rural residents stopped looking for jobs or moved to cities.
However, despite the overall improvement, serious challenges remain. Women face higher unemployment at 19.9%, up from 17.7% last year.
The report also shows that young people aged 15-24 experience an alarming 35.8% unemployment rate, while those aged 25-34 see rates of 21.9%.
Regional differences remain obvious, as southern regions report 25.8% unemployment, while the Oriental region shows 21.1%. Meanwhile, Draa-Tafilalet enjoys just 6.4% unemployment, and Marrakech-Safi records 7.5%.
Underemployment also worsened, affecting 1.15 million people compared to 1.04 million previously. This indicates that while fewer people lack jobs entirely, many work in precarious conditions.
The slight decline offers hope but masks deep inequalities between urban and rural areas, men and women, and different regions.
Read also: Morocco Creates 282,000 Jobs in Early 2025, Unemployment Rate Drops to 13.3%
