Unemployment rate to drop below 12% in 2017: Manpower Min

CAIRO – 2 August 2017: Manpower Minister Mohammed Saafan said that the ministry expects that unemployment rate will be reduced to less than 12 percent, noting that this problem is one of the greatest challenges facing his ministry.

In an interview with the ON Live Satellite Channel, Saafan added that unemployment reached nearly 12.6 percent by the end of June 2016, while it reached 12.4 percent by the end of the same year 2016.

“In 2017, unemployment reached 12 percent and it is expected to record reduction in the new report to reach to less than 12 percent,” Saafan reiterated.

Saafan clarified employees think they are not covered by insurance in private sector; that is why they do not prefer working in private sector, emphasizing that the ministry is working on the new labor law to provide a suitable atmosphere and conditions in order to encourage workers to apply in the private sector.

In 2016, The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) issued a report that the unemployment rate for the first quarter (Q1) of 2016 in the 15-64 age range fell to 12.6 percent, compared to 12.8 percent in Q4 of 2015.

CAPMAS added that the unemployment rate in the 15-29 age range reached 27.3 percent. It also stated that the rate for the male youth demographic was recorded as 21 percent, whereas it was 46.8 percent for women in the same age range.

The report further elaborated that 36.1 percent of unemployed individuals in the 15-29 age range have completed secondary or higher education.