Unemployment rises by 0.8 percent in morocco

Morocco's unemployment rate increased in the second half of 2003 to 11.2 percent against 10.4 percent in the same period last year, marking a 0.8 percent, the Statistics Direction announced Friday.

The rate raised from 17.1 percent to 19.2 percent in cities and dropped from 3.2 to 2.6 percent in rural areas.

The number of unemployed women increased by 2.3 percent while the rate remained almost stable concerning men.

In a twelve-month period, some 155,000 jobs were created in Morocco, including 80 percent in urban zones, due to the increase of the number of people employed in agriculture (2.5 percent), industry (1.7 percent), construction and public works (3.1 percent) and services (3.2 percent).

In rural areas, labor rose in the sectors of agriculture, forest and fisheries (0.5 percent), industry and craftsmanship (13.8 percent) and construction and public works (13.0 percent) while labor in the sector of services dropped by 4.8 percent, said the same source.