Rabat, Feb 13 (IANS): Morocco's unemployment rate rose to 12.3 per cent in 2021, from 11.9 per cent the previous year, according to official data.
The unemployment rate in urban areas increased to 16.9 per cent year on year, while the rate in rural areas decreased to 5 per cent in 2021, Xinhua news agency quoted the High Commission for Planning as saying.
The figures show that the unemployment rate in Morocco is still above pre-pandemic levels of 9.2 per cent in 2019 and 9.5 per cent in 2018.
Morocco's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 7 per cent in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic and is estimated to have grown by 6.3 per cent in 2021.