Egypt’s unemployment drops to 11.9% in Q3 of 2017

CAIRO – 15 November 2017: Egypt’s unemployment rate fell to 11.9 percent in the third quarter of 2017 from 12.6 percent in the same quarter of 2016, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said Wednesday.

The CAPMAS report said that despite the drop was slight compared to the second quarter of 2017, the third quarter has seen an influx of fresh graduates into the labor market.

The study showed that some of these graduates have joined the workforce during the third quarter, pushing unemployment rate down.

It revealed that the work force compromises 29,472 million people, with an increase of one percent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2017, compared to the second quarter. The unemployed, meanwhile, stand at 11.9 percent of the total work force, with 3,513 million jobless people.

The unemployed increased by 0.5 percent in Q3 of 2017, compared to the second quarter, but they dropped 3.5 percent compared to Q3 of 2016. Unemployment among men reached 8.2 percent in the third quarter versus 24.4 percent among women.

Meanwhile, the third quarter saw a 1.1 percent increase in the number of the employed, compared with the second quarter and a 3.1 percent hike compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Total number of employees stands at 25,959 million.

The Egyptian government has been exerting efforts recently to reduce unemployment rates. It aims to reduce unemployment from the current 12 percent to four percent within Egypt 2030 Vision.

During their second review of Egypt’s reform program that was concluded last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission said that reducing unemployment, specifically among Egypt’s youth, and integrating more women into the labor force are key to Egypt’s economic liftoff and are the strongest and most sustainable form of social protection.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pledged to reduce unemployment to 10 percent over the next few years.