The unemployment rate increased by 0.8 points between the first quarters of 2022 and 2023, from 12.1% to 12.9%, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP).
This rate rose from 16.3% to 17.1% in urban areas and from 5.1% to 5.7% in rural areas, said the HCP, which has just published an information note on the labor market situation in the first quarter of 2023.
It also recorded an increase both among men, from 10.5% to 11.5% and among women, from 17.3% to 18.1%, notes the HCP, adding that this rate has experienced a sharp increase of 1.9 point among young people aged 15 to 24 years, from 33.4% to 35.3% and among people aged 25 to 35 years, from 19.2% to 20.9% (+1.7 point)
The number of unemployed rose by 83,000 between the first quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, from 1,466,000 to 1,549,000 unemployed, an increase of 6%.
This increase, explains the HCP, is the result of an increase of 67,000 unemployed in urban areas and 16,000 in rural areas.
The unemployment rate of graduates has, for its part, recorded an increase of 0.9 point, from 18.9% to 19.8%. This increase is more pronounced among holders of diplomas and certificates of primary and secondary college education (+2.2 points and a rate of 15.2%), and diplomas of secondary qualifying education (+1.1 point and a rate of 22.6%).
For its part, the volume of employed persons in an underemployed situation increased by 88,000 people, between the first quarter of 2022 and the same period of 2023, from 987,000 to 1,075,000 people at the national level, from 521,000 to 573,000 people in the cities and from 466,000 to 502,000 in the countryside.
The underemployment rate rose from 9.2% to 10.3% at the national level, from 8.3% to 9.1% in urban areas and from 10.6% to 12.1% in rural areas.
The note also highlights that the volume of the employed population in underemployment in terms of number of hours worked, increased from 485,000 to 513,000 people at the national level, noting that the corresponding rate increased from 4.5% to 4.9%.
The employed labor force in a situation of underemployment in terms of insufficient income or mismatch between training and employment increased from 502,000 to 562,000 people nationally. The corresponding rate rose, according to the HCP, from 4.7% to 5.4%.
