Morocco needs 6% growth to reduce unemployment
23 August 2014
Read by 1951 persons
Unemployment in Morocco increased by 0.5 points during the second quarter of 2014.
Between the second quarter of 2013 and the same period in 2014, only 39,000 jobs were created by the Moroccan economy, according to the HCP (High Commission for Planning). Very few, according to experts, to absorb high job demand.
The number of unemployed people in Morocco, which increased between the second quarter of 2013 and that of 2014 by 65,000 people, reached 1,114,000 people, indicates the latest information note on the employment sector of the High Commission for Planning (HCP). The unemployment rate thus increased by 0.5 points, rising from 8.8% to 9.3% between the two periods, specifies the HCP, according to which this rate increased in urban areas from 13.8% to 14.2% and in rural areas from 3.2% to 3.6%. At least 16.9% of graduates are unemployed, compared to 15.8% in the same period in the second quarter of 2013.
However, according to the HCP, "27.8% of unemployment is due to layoffs or cessation of activity by employers". As for underemployment, it increased between the two periods from 8.9% to 10.4% nationally, from 7.9% to 9.2% in urban areas and from 9.9% to 11.7% in rural areas, the HCP adds.
Furthermore, the Moroccan active population aged 15 and over reached 12,005,000 people during the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 0.9% compared to the second quarter of 2013 (+1.1% in urban areas and +0.7% in rural areas). The activity rate decreased by 0.3 points, from 49.2% in the second quarter of 2013 to 48.9% in the same quarter of 2014.
Insufficient economic growth
The rise in the unemployment rate in Morocco is attributed by economists to the country's weak economic growth since at least 2011. The Moroccan government, led since 2011 by the moderate Islamist party, Justice and Development Party (PJD), has not been able to boost the local economy. Between 2011 and 2014, the average growth rate did not exceed 3%, with a huge budget deficit, reaching up to 7% in 2012.
Not dynamic enough to create jobs, the Moroccan economy is stagnating", according to experts who believe that "the Benkirane government has not found the right formula to boost growth and create jobs". The GDP deficit was nevertheless reduced from 7.3% in 2012 to 5.5% in 2013 and 4% projected in 2014. As for economic growth, it increased from 2.7% in 2012 to 4.4% last year. Not enough to stimulate employment, insist Moroccan economists, as well as the HCP.
6% growth, or nothing
The latter insists on the market's inability to absorb the growing number of graduates year after year. While the unemployment rate for non-graduates generally does not exceed 5%, it remains high among graduates, particularly those with higher education who constitute 26% of the unemployed. "To absorb the current deficit in the medium term, and therefore to provide jobs for the one million unemployed people recorded, it is necessary to create 300,000 jobs per year", estimates a Moroccan expert on his Blog.
With an average arrival of 180,000 job seekers each year, "Morocco needs to achieve a growth rate of 6%" to support them, according to experts from the International Monetary Fund. It was in the form of a warning that the IMF warned the Moroccan authorities in 2010 of the need to ensure an average growth rate of 5% to bring the unemployment rate down to less than 7% of the working-age population.
Maghrebemergent.com
Published August 20, 2014.
Posted online August 23, 2014.
Between the second quarter of 2013 and the same period in 2014, only 39,000 jobs were created by the Moroccan economy, according to the HCP (High Commission for Planning). Very few, according to experts, to absorb high job demand.
The number of unemployed people in Morocco, which increased between the second quarter of 2013 and that of 2014 by 65,000 people, reached 1,114,000 people, indicates the latest information note on the employment sector of the High Commission for Planning (HCP). The unemployment rate thus increased by 0.5 points, rising from 8.8% to 9.3% between the two periods, specifies the HCP, according to which this rate increased in urban areas from 13.8% to 14.2% and in rural areas from 3.2% to 3.6%. At least 16.9% of graduates are unemployed, compared to 15.8% in the same period in the second quarter of 2013.
However, according to the HCP, "27.8% of unemployment is due to layoffs or cessation of activity by employers". As for underemployment, it increased between the two periods from 8.9% to 10.4% nationally, from 7.9% to 9.2% in urban areas and from 9.9% to 11.7% in rural areas, the HCP adds.
Furthermore, the Moroccan active population aged 15 and over reached 12,005,000 people during the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 0.9% compared to the second quarter of 2013 (+1.1% in urban areas and +0.7% in rural areas). The activity rate decreased by 0.3 points, from 49.2% in the second quarter of 2013 to 48.9% in the same quarter of 2014.
Insufficient economic growth
The rise in the unemployment rate in Morocco is attributed by economists to the country's weak economic growth since at least 2011. The Moroccan government, led since 2011 by the moderate Islamist party, Justice and Development Party (PJD), has not been able to boost the local economy. Between 2011 and 2014, the average growth rate did not exceed 3%, with a huge budget deficit, reaching up to 7% in 2012.
Not dynamic enough to create jobs, the Moroccan economy is stagnating", according to experts who believe that "the Benkirane government has not found the right formula to boost growth and create jobs". The GDP deficit was nevertheless reduced from 7.3% in 2012 to 5.5% in 2013 and 4% projected in 2014. As for economic growth, it increased from 2.7% in 2012 to 4.4% last year. Not enough to stimulate employment, insist Moroccan economists, as well as the HCP.
6% growth, or nothing
The latter insists on the market's inability to absorb the growing number of graduates year after year. While the unemployment rate for non-graduates generally does not exceed 5%, it remains high among graduates, particularly those with higher education who constitute 26% of the unemployed. "To absorb the current deficit in the medium term, and therefore to provide jobs for the one million unemployed people recorded, it is necessary to create 300,000 jobs per year", estimates a Moroccan expert on his Blog.
With an average arrival of 180,000 job seekers each year, "Morocco needs to achieve a growth rate of 6%" to support them, according to experts from the International Monetary Fund. It was in the form of a warning that the IMF warned the Moroccan authorities in 2010 of the need to ensure an average growth rate of 5% to bring the unemployment rate down to less than 7% of the working-age population.
Maghrebemergent.com
Published August 20, 2014.
Posted online August 23, 2014.
