(AFP Photo)
National unemployment reached 13.4% of the total workforce during the third quarter of 2013, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced in an official statement, issued on 16 November. CAPMAS attributed this increase to the decelerating economic activities that country witnessed during the past period.
The unemployment rate represents an uptick from 13.3% in the previous quarter , and 8.9% during the same period in 2010.
According to the CAPMAS report, Egypt’s total labour force amounts to 27.2 million, a 4.2% increase compared to the same quarter in 2010.
The report also mentioned that youth constitutes 70.8% of the total unemployed, with around 10.6% aged between 15 and 19, and 20.9% ranging between 25 and 29 years old. The majority of the unemployed youth were found in the 20 to 24 year-old tranche, of which 39.3% were jobless.
Commenting on the education level of the unemployed, the report pointed out that 84.5% of the unemployed had high school and college degrees.
The report also indicated that labour force participation in economic activity represented around 47.7% of those aged 15 years or older, a decline from 48% during the previous quarter and 49.5% during the same quarter in 2010.
The rate of male participation was around 72.8%, a 0.5% decrease compared to the preceding quarter and 2.5% decrease compared to the same period last year. The percentage of female participants also saw a decrease, standing at 21.9%, compared to 22.1% participation during the previous quarter and 22.8% participation during the same quarter in 2010.
“Labour force participation rate in urban areas reached 46.6%, while it was 46.4% in the previous quarter, and 47.8% for the same quarter in 2010,” the report read, noting that in rural areas this rate reached 48.5%, compared to 49.4% for previous quarter and 50.9% for the same quarter in 2010.
In terms of working hours, the report stated that the average number of hours per week came in at 46.1, with males working around 46.8 hours each week and females working around 42.6.
The number of workers in agriculture and fishing activities reached 6.3 million, with those working in the construction sectors registering around 2.8 million, while the number of workers in manufacturing industry sector reached 2.4 million. The lowest number of workers was in real estate rental activities, which reached 31,000.
