Unemployment inches up in 3Q: Egypt’s unemployment rate rose to 6.7% of the total workforce in the third quarter of 2024, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to data released by state statistics agency Capmas. Unemployment was down 0.4 percentage points from the same period last year.

Labor force expansion drove the increase: Egypt’s labor force reached 32.2 mn in 3Q 2024, up 2.5% from 2Q, with an additional 694k employed workers and an additional 101k unemployed.

Unemployment among women continues to climb: The jobless rate for women rose by 0.9 percentage points q-o-q to 18.2% in 3Q 2024 and increased by a full percentage point from the previous year. For males, the unemployment rate was unchanged from the previous quarter at 4.2%, and down 0.6 percentage points y-o-y.

More young people out of work: The rate of unemployment among 15-29 year-olds accounted for 65.7% of all jobless people in 3Q 2024, up from 64.2% during the previous quarter. Capmas doesn’t provide an official rate of youth unemployment.

REMEMBER- The headline rate doesn’t tell the whole story: The unemployment rate doesn’t count people of working age who are not looking for work or who are unable to work. The labor force participation rate — which counts everyone aged 15-64 either in work or actively looking for work — came in at 44.4%, up from 43.4% during the previous quarter and down from 44.6% in 3Q 2023.

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