(Ecofin Agency) - The Central Bank of Morocco expects the country’s economy to recover at 6.2% this year after a recession in 2020. Many sectors have started recovering, including the job market.  

Over the third quarter this year, the unemployment rate in the country fell to 11.8% from 12.7% in Q3 2020. The figures were reported in a statement issued yesterday by the High Commission for Planning (HCP). The rate fell from 16.5% to 16% in urban areas and 6.8% to 5.2% in rural areas.

"Between the third quarter of 2020 and the same period in 2021, the national economy created 642,000 jobs, including 274,000 in rural areas and 368,000 in urban areas. A year earlier, 581,000 jobs were lost. Over the three years before the pandemic, an average of 145,000 jobs was created annually," the statement reads. In detail, there were 306,000 jobs created in the services sector, 190,000 in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, 92,000 in construction, and 54,000 in industry and crafts.

"The number of the employed labor force in a situation of underemployment, due to the number of work hours, reached 495,000 people (4.6%). The underemployed population, caused by insufficient income or mismatch between training and employment is 531,000 people (4.9%) ... The overall number of the underemployed was 1,027,000 people. The total rate of underemployment decreased from 11.6% to 9.5% between the period under review (from10.5% to 8.6% in urban areas and from 13.3% to 10.8% in rural areas),” the report showed.

As a reminder, Morocco adopted last October 13 a program for socio-economic priorities. The program will run until 2035 and aims to revive the national economy in the post-pandemic period. It aligns with the new development model (NMD).

Dorcas Loba (intern)