Egypt’s unemployment rate fell to 10.6 percent in the first quarter of 2018, compared to 12 percent in the first quarter of 2017, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced.
CAPMAS said in a statement that the number of unemployed was 3.9 million in the first quarter of 2018, down by 409,000 compared to the corresponding quarter of 2017 and down by 215,000 compared to the fourth quarter of 2017.
The size of the work force recorded 29.1 million people in the first quarter of 2018, increasing by 37,000 people compared to the same quarter of 2017, and declining by 86,000 compared to the fourth quarter of 2017.
Finance Minister Amr al-Garhy announced in April that the Egyptian economic reform program has yielded results, saying it decreased unemployment rates by 2.3 percent in the past three years.
Garhy acknowledged that one of the greatest feats of the new economic reform program was that the mega governmental projects have provided job opportunities.
Unemployment has been a shadow over Egypt for a long time.
Minister of Planning Advisor Ahmed Kamali stated earlier that Egypt needs 700,000 job opportunities if it is to battle the increase in unemployment. However, if Egypt wants to better to decrease unemployment, the number should be even larger, he added.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
