Unemployment in Morocco falls to 9.6%

27/06/2008

New figures from Morocco's employment ministry show a reduction in the overall unemployment rate. Minister Jamal Aghmani credits the government's integrated labour plan for the progress, but the country's many unemployed graduates remain unconvinced.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 27/06/08

[Sarah Touahri] Jamal Aghmani, Morocco's Minister for Employment and Professional Training announced on Monday that unemployment fell from 13.9% in 1999 to 9.6% in the first quarter of 2008.

The Moroccan government has announced a fall in unemployment from 13.9% in 1999 to 9.8% in 2007 and 9.6% over the first quarter of 2008. The figure is expected to drop to 9.2% in the second quarter of this year, according to the High Commission for Planning.

At a press briefing on Monday (June 23rd), Employment Minister Jamal Aghmani declared that unemployment in urban areas has fallen by 6.6%, going from 22% to 15.4% over the same period, whilst in rural areas it has dropped by 5.4% to 3.8%. "The downward trend in unemployment has been seen in all regions, with some variation," he said.

"In the south it fell by 6 points, but in the east by 9 points. This trend was accompanied by average growth of 1.9% in the number of new jobs on offer between 2002 and 2007, compared with 1.2% between 1999 and 2002," the minister concluded.

Between 1999 and 2007, an average of 151,000 new jobs was created every year.

The government is delighted with these achievements. Aghmani said the increase is due to efforts made by the State across all sectors: investment and the introduction of incentives, policies on major infrastructure developments in tourism (Plan Azur), housing and industry (Plan Emergence), and the National Initiative for Human Development, which have created a combined 300,000 job opportunities.

The government official also highlighted the promotion of technology and professional training. The first people to benefit from the Idmaj Programme were those leaving professional training (32%), followed by those leaving higher education (25%) and university graduates (24%). The main achievements under this programme, which has already benefited 92,000 young people, involved the industry and service sectors, with 78%.

The Taahil Programme for retraining provided 23,000 training opportunities by the end of May 2008, each with employment prospects. The Moukawalati programme, which provides small-business grants, has benefited 1,044 people as of end May, compared with 663 projects financed by the end of December 2007.

According to the employment ministry, the trend is positive, thanks to a coherent, integrated plan. One priority going forward is the promotion of professional training, with increased student capacity for centres seeing 168,000 students passing through by 2012, apprenticeships being offered to 110,000 young people, and support from the private sector, which will contribute to the training of 220,000 students.

These official figures do not seem to have convinced the country's many unemployed graduates, however, who continue to organise sit-down protests outside the Parliament and ministry buildings in Rabat.

Salwa Kemmouchi, a law graduate, told Magharebia the government constantly announces that unemployment is falling, but that it is at odds with the experience of graduates. "Perhaps the level of unemployment is falling for drop-outs," she said, "but older university graduates are still going through hell, and their future looks pretty bleak. Some are over forty years old now, and their hope is almost gone."

Samir Kbibate, who has a degree in Arab literature, feels the same way. "The figures published by officials don't reflect the reality. A number of graduates, particularly doctors, are working as labourers or small traders. They're counted as having jobs, but this is just unemployment in disguise," he said.