Reuters
By Aziz El Yaakoubi
Growth in service and construction industries pushed Morocco’s unemployment rate down to 9.7 percent last year from 9.9 percent in 2014, according to official figures released on Friday.
Services and construction created 32,000 and 18,000 jobs respectively, while manufacturing industry created 15,000 jobs, Morocco’s planning agency said in a statement.
The government has been developing manufacturing industries in areas such as car and aerospace parts and electronic components to cut reliance on agriculture and create more jobs in its crowded big cities.
The labour-intensive farming sector, which accounts for up to 17 percent of Morocco’s gross domestic product and employs more than the half its workforce, lost around 15,000 jobs in 2015.
With drought looming, the sector is expected to lose more jobs in 2016, putting further pressure on the government, which is already facing protests over austerity measures.
Informal labour abounds in Morocco, making it hard to produce reliable employment figures.
The Finance Ministry has forecast the economy will grow this year by 3 percent, slowing from 4.4 percent in 2015. However, the planning agency said drought would drag growth down to 1.3 percent in 2016.
(Reporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
