El Fassi Government's Employment Record
6 January 2012
Read by 1531 persons
Only 116,000 jobs created per year. The unemployment rate would be 7% if targets had been met. The outgoing government was hampered by changes in labor supply and a slower-than-expected growth rate.
The El Fassi government was less successful than hoped, particularly regarding employment. At the end of 2007, Toufiq Hejira appeared on television, using impressive figures to explain how the El Fassi government planned to meet its commitment of creating 250,000 jobs per year on average during its term, totaling 1.25 million positions. With this level of job creation, unemployment was expected to fall to 7%! Ultimately, this government created fewer than 400,000 net jobs in three years (an average of 116,000 per year), and the unemployment rate remained virtually unchanged. Even if the El Fassi government had remained in power until the end of its term, it would have achieved less than half of its commitment; the year 2011 was not expected to significantly deviate from the usual annual average.
It must be said that in 2007, those who were about to govern, particularly the Istiqlal Party, then in the majority, based their projections on the realities of the years before, during which job creation could sometimes reach 400,000 positions per year. This was a misjudgment of the changes that were gradually affecting the labor supply, which became more demanding. Today, unpaid work (family assistance), for example, has decreased compared to what it was before. From 28% at the beginning of 2007, it fell to 23% at the end of September 2011. This is a considerable improvement on the one hand, but on the other hand, it affects the statistics on the number of jobs created.
Young people continue to suffer from unemployment
Similarly, economic growth, which was hoped to positively impact job creation, was both lower than expected and less job-rich; the growth/employment elasticity remains low in Morocco. Sectors such as construction, on which much was relied upon, cooperatives through the solidarity economy in particular, and agriculture, of course, do create jobs, but these jobs remain poorly paid and precarious. In market services, such as financial services or telecommunications, and industry, job creation remains low, mainly due to the strong improvement in productivity. And it is young people, as elsewhere, who find it most difficult to enter the labor market... Unemployment among 15-24 year-olds was 18.2% at the end of September 2011, compared to 16.8% a year earlier. However, with the looming economic crisis in Europe and its impact on Morocco, it is difficult to see how the Benkirane government could reduce the unemployment rate to 7% by the end of 2016.
Salah Agueniou.
Lavieeco.com
Published January 3, 2012.
Posted online January 6, 2012.
The El Fassi government was less successful than hoped, particularly regarding employment. At the end of 2007, Toufiq Hejira appeared on television, using impressive figures to explain how the El Fassi government planned to meet its commitment of creating 250,000 jobs per year on average during its term, totaling 1.25 million positions. With this level of job creation, unemployment was expected to fall to 7%! Ultimately, this government created fewer than 400,000 net jobs in three years (an average of 116,000 per year), and the unemployment rate remained virtually unchanged. Even if the El Fassi government had remained in power until the end of its term, it would have achieved less than half of its commitment; the year 2011 was not expected to significantly deviate from the usual annual average.
It must be said that in 2007, those who were about to govern, particularly the Istiqlal Party, then in the majority, based their projections on the realities of the years before, during which job creation could sometimes reach 400,000 positions per year. This was a misjudgment of the changes that were gradually affecting the labor supply, which became more demanding. Today, unpaid work (family assistance), for example, has decreased compared to what it was before. From 28% at the beginning of 2007, it fell to 23% at the end of September 2011. This is a considerable improvement on the one hand, but on the other hand, it affects the statistics on the number of jobs created.
Young people continue to suffer from unemployment
Similarly, economic growth, which was hoped to positively impact job creation, was both lower than expected and less job-rich; the growth/employment elasticity remains low in Morocco. Sectors such as construction, on which much was relied upon, cooperatives through the solidarity economy in particular, and agriculture, of course, do create jobs, but these jobs remain poorly paid and precarious. In market services, such as financial services or telecommunications, and industry, job creation remains low, mainly due to the strong improvement in productivity. And it is young people, as elsewhere, who find it most difficult to enter the labor market... Unemployment among 15-24 year-olds was 18.2% at the end of September 2011, compared to 16.8% a year earlier. However, with the looming economic crisis in Europe and its impact on Morocco, it is difficult to see how the Benkirane government could reduce the unemployment rate to 7% by the end of 2016.
Salah Agueniou.
Lavieeco.com
Published January 3, 2012.
Posted online January 6, 2012.
