- Labor market figures
- Increase in undersamuse
In the first quarter of 2025, The Moroccan labor market has improved significantly compared to the previous year thanks to the creation of numerous jobs in the major cities of the country. However, high unemployment for young people and gender inequalities are a challenge for the Moroccan authorities.
According to The high commission of the plan (HCP) of Moroccoemployment increased by 0.4 % thanks to the creation of more than 282,000 jobs During the first quarter of the year, the highest increase since 2022.
In a report, HCP stressed that the dynamics of the Moroccan labor market showed signs of vigordespite the challenges that persist, in particular with regard to the informal economy and underemployment.
The document also specifies that the most significant increase has been observed in urban areas, especially in the regions of the northern country. Compared to rural areas, the unemployment rate has decreased by 1 % in large cities, Or more than double compared to the least populated regions of the country.
The rapid development and growth of the main economic centers of the country caused the movement of thousands of citizens to these cities, which led to a slight increase in unemployment of 0.5 points in rural areas (villages of less than 25,000 inhabitants) compared to figures of 2024. Despite this, Unemployment reaches almost 7 %, half of that of major cities.
Although the data reflects a slight improvement and activation of the labor market, the decline is not spectacular, but it shows a significant recovery, since, during the same period last year, nearly 80,000 jobs were lost. Overall, Unemployment fell by 1 %to 1.63 million people.
If we ventilate these figures, we see that in large cities, Unemployment has decreased by more than 285,000 people, while it has increased by 3,000 people in rural areas. Regarding sex distribution, more than twice as many men that women have managed to enter the labor market, with an integration rate of 0.5 % and 0.2 % respectively. Furthermore, The unemployment rate of women is still 19.9 %, against 11.5 % for men.
-On the other hand, unemployment of young people, aged 15 to 24, is experiencing a reverse situation. According to figures published by the HCP, unemployment of young people experienced an alarming increase of 1.8 points, reaching a total of 37.7 %, This shows that the young population remains excluded from employment due to their lack of professional experience.
However, other age groups have improved. In the 25-34 age group, unemployment decreased by 0.8 % to 21.2 %; In the 35-44 year old tranche, he fell half a point to 7.5 %; And in the 45 -year -old and over, it fell 0.6 % to 3.9 %.
In the case of graduates, unemployment decreased by 0.9 %, people with technical diplomas being the group that has best integrated into the Moroccan labor market with 3.9 %. They are followed by students in vocational training with 3.6 %.
Increase in undersamuse
Despite the drop in unemployment throughout the country, underemployment (people working less hours than they wish or occupying a job that does not comply with their training) increased by 1.07 million to 1.25 million, especially in rural areas, which experienced 2.3 % to 14.8 %, against an increase of one point to reach 10 % in urban areas.
Underemployment is divided into two categories: Workers with an insufficient number of hours and workers with employment not in accordance with their training. The number of workers with insufficient hours increased from 576,000 to 664,000 throughout the country, and the corresponding rate increased from 5.6 % to 6.3 %. At the same time, the number of people faced with insufficient income or a gap between their training and their employment increased from 493,000 to 590,000, an increase of 4.8 % to 5.6 %.
This development has mainly occurred in the construction sector, which was already suffering from the highest rate of sub-employment in the country, with an increase of 3.6 %. Next come agriculture, forestry and fishing, with an increase of 2.3 points, from 12.1 % to 14.4 %; Manufacturing industry jumped from 6.3 % to 7.3 %; And the services increased by 0.7 %, from 8.3 %to 9 %.
Although the figures have improved compared to 2024, unemployment of young people remains critical, underemployment increases rapidly, which indicates that many jobs are precarious or poorly remunerated, and the gap between the sexes and between urban and rural areas remains significant.
