CAIRO: Egypt s unemployment has climbed to 9.4 percent in the first quarter of 2009 due to the global economic crisis.
The Middle East News Agency has cited the official Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics as saying the rate rose from 8.8 percent in 2008.
Most analysts put the real number at twice that.
Egyptian officials say while the country is faring well in the current downturn, economic growth is still projected to slump to 4 percent in the current fiscal year due to falling tourism, the Suez Canal traffic, worker remittances and foreign investment revenues.
Egypt s economic growth rate averaged about 7 percent over the past three years. -AP
