The unemployment rate in Morocco rose to 9.4 percent in the third quarter of 2019 from 9.3 percent in the same period a year ago. The number of unemployed increased by 26 thousand to 1.114 million while employed went up by 143 thousand to 10.747 million. Among sectors, jobs were added in services (+336,000) and construction (+37,000) while agriculture & fisheries (-204,000) and industry including handicrafts (-26,000) lost positions. The jobless rate rose in rural areas (4.5 percent vs 3.9 percent in Q3 2018), mainly due to lower agricultural activity while it fell slightly in urban centres (12.7 percent vs 13.1 percent). Meantime, the unemployment rate remained high primarily among youth aged 15-24 years (26.7 percent); the 25-34 age group (15.0 percent); women (13.9 percent) and college and university graduates (15.5 percent). Unemployment Rate in Morocco averaged 10.40 percent from 1999 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 15.10 percent in the third quarter of 1999 and a record low of 7.80 percent in the second quarter of 2006. source: Haut Commissariat au Plan
Unemployment Rate in Morocco is expected to be 9.60 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Unemployment Rate in Morocco to stand at 9.20 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Morocco Unemployment Rate is projected to trend around 9.20 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.