Egypt’s unemployment rate inched up to 7.1% in 3Q2023, a 0.1 percentage point increase from the previous quarter, according to data released yesterday by state statistics agency Capmas. Unemployment was down 0.3 percentage points compared with the same period last year.

Unemployment rates among both men and women held steady: The male unemployment rate was unchanged from the previous quarter 4.8% in 3Q2023, but was down from 5.2% in the third quarter of the previous year. Unemployment among women dipped to 17.2% (-0.1 percentage points from the last quarter) and down from 19.1% in the same period last year.

More young people are out of work: Folks aged 15-29 accounted for 64.3% of all jobless people in 3Q 2023, compared to 61.8% the previous quarter. Capmas doesn’t provide an official rate of youth unemployment.

REMEMBER- By definition, the official unemployment rate only includes people who are looking for work. The labor force participation rate — which counts everyone aged 15-64 either in work or actively looking for work — came in at 44.6%, up from 43.0% in the last quarter and up from 42.7% in the third quarter of 2022.

DATA POINT: Egypt’s labor force now stands at 32 mn, up 3.2% on the previous quarter. Men make up 82% of the workforce and women make up 18%.

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