Unemployment is still rising in 2024, reinforcing a concerning trend that primarily affects young people, women, and graduates. This persistent issue highlights the economy’s inability to generate sufficient job opportunities in order to absorb the growing labor market demand.
One of the major weaknesses of the labor market is the mismatch between education and the real needs of the economy. Unemployment among 15- to 24-year-olds has reached a critical level of 36.7%, which is 23.4 percentage points higher than the national average! This reflects the challenges faced by first-time job seekers. The same applies to graduates, with 19.6% remaining unemployed—evidence of an ongoing gap between acquired skills and employer demands. Women are also disproportionately affected, with their unemployment rate climbing to 19.4%, marking an increase of 1.1 percentage points in one year only.
By the end of 2024, 58,000 new job seekers entered the labor market, bringing the total number of unemployed individuals to 1.64 million. The national unemployment rate has risen to 13.3%, against 13% in 2023. This increase is stronger in rural areas (+0.5 points to 6.8%) than in urban areas (+0.1 points to 16.9%). Paradoxically, 82,000 jobs were created during the same period, contrasting with the 157,000 job losses recorded in the previous year. However, this growth remains insufficient to offset the influx of new entrants into the labor market.
Sectoral Analysis reveals contrasting dynamics. Services’ sector remain the primary driver of job creation, adding 160,000 new positions, fueled by growth in commerce and social services. The industrial sector also experienced a slight recovery, generating 46,000 new jobs, while the construction sector added 13,000 positions. Conversely, the agriculture sector faced severe job losses, with 137,000 positions eliminated due to persistent droughts, particularly in rural areas.
Last year, employment rate continued its downward trend, falling from 38% in 2023 to 37.7% in 2024, underscoring the ongoing struggles in the labor market. This decline was most significant in rural areas, where the indicator dropped by one percentage point, whereas in urban areas, it remained stable at 34.9% compared to 34.8% in 2023.
The labor force participation rate remained stagnant at 43.5%, decreasing in rural areas (-0.8 points to 46.5%) while slightly increasing in urban areas (+0.2 points to 42%).
Gender disparities in workforce participation persist, although with slight improvements. The female participation rate reached 19.1%, up 0.1 points, whereas male participation declined to 68.6%.
Khadija MASMOUDI
