The Higher Planning Commission (HCP) announces that the unemployment rate in Morocco has risen from 9.3 to 9.4 percent in the third quarter of the current year.

This revelation came in the Higher Planning Commission’s briefing note on key labor market indicators related to the 3rd quarter of 2019. The note specified that 26,000 people joined the pool of the unemployed in Morocco in this period, 23,000 of them in rural areas and the remaining 3,000 in urban areas.

This brings the total number of unemployed people in Morocco from 1,088,000 to 1,144,000 in one year.

The source reveals that the demographics that are most affected by unemployment are young Moroccans between 15 and 24 of age with a rate of 26.7% compared with 7% among Moroccans aged over 25. These are followed by degree holders, whose unemployment rate amounts to 15.5% compared to 3.7% among people with no degree. Women come last with an employment rate of 13.9% against 8% among their male counterpart.

While 27.8% of the unemployed entered the pool of unemployment after being dismissed from their job or the cessation of the employer’s activity, more than half have not been employed before, continues HCP. This number is constituted of 49% of the unemployed men and 67.4% of the women.

As to underemployment, the total number of the people affected by it has fallen by 9.1% (from 1,021,000 in the third quarter of 2018 to 969,000 in the same period of 2019). This is constituted of two elements in line with the recommendations of the International Labor Office (ILO), the low number of hours worked and second, income inadequacy or incompatibility between training and employment.

Those affected by the underemployment due to the insufficiency of work hours rose to 380,000 in the 3rd semester of 2019 at a rate of 3.5% whereas underemployment due to the second factor dropped by 5 per cent.

It is noteworthy that men are affected by underemployment than women with a rate of 10.2% to 5.2% in urban areas. This difference is even wider in urban areas as 13.7% of men are underemployed against 2.4% of women.