Unemployment Is Higher among Women and in Urban Areas

From 2018 to 2019, the number of people out of work has gone from 1,137,000 to 1,107,000. Thus, the unemployment rate fell from 9.5% to 9.2% at the national level. In urban areas, the rate went from 13.8 to 12.9 percent and in rural areas from 3.6 to 3.7 percent, according to what the Office of the High Commissioner for Planning has just said about the labor market situation in Morocco.

The unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 24 reached 24.9 percent, compared with 7 per cent among adults aged 25 and over. This rate was 39.2 percent and 9.9 percent for urban citizens, respectively, while unemployment remains higher among women (13.5 percent) than among men (7.8 percent), particularly in urban areas, where the rate is 21.8 percent for women compared to 10.3 percent for men.

The unemployment rate increases significantly in parallel with the level of education, rising from 3.1% among those without a diploma to 15.7% for those with a diploma; 12.4% among those with an average diploma and 21.6% for those with a higher diploma. 

The unemployment rate remains relatively high among certain groups of people, particularly holders of technical and middle management diplomas (23.9%), higher education diplomas awarded by universities (23.6%) and vocational specialization diplomas (20.9%).

Most of the unemployed live in cities. Thus, 8 out of 10 unemployed people live in urban areas (83.8%); 2 out of 3 unemployed people are men (65.0%); 8 out of 10 young people are aged between 15 and 34 (80.3%) and 4 out of 10 unemployed people have a higher diploma, according to the HCP report.

Five regions are home to 71.6% of the unemployed, led by Casablanca-Settat (25%), followed by Rabat-Salé-Kénitra (15.8%), then Fez-Meknes (11%) and Tangier-Tetouan-Al-Hoceima (9.9%). The same percentage is recorded in the eastern region.

64.9% of the unemployed rely, in their job search, on their relatives, friends and direct contact with operators. 18.2% resort to competitions and advertisements, while only 5% turn to agencies specializing in employment mediation.