Madar (Rabat) - The number of people working for income in Morocco fell by 173,000 in the third quarter of 2026, or 1.6% from the second quarter, to 10.47 million, while the strict unemployment rate rose from 9.5% to 10.5%, according to a High Commission for Planning (HCP) note reported by news site Hespress on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
According to the note, based on the new Labour Force Survey, the decline was concentrated in rural areas, which lost 148,000 jobs, against 25,000 in towns and cities. Agriculture, forestry and fishing shed 145,000 jobs and services 96,000, while industry was the only sector to grow, adding a net 69,000 jobs (up 4.8%).
The number of unemployed reached 1.224 million, up 103,000 in three months, including 46,000 in urban and 57,000 in rural areas. The unemployment rate stands at 12.5% in urban areas and 6.9% in rural areas.
Women and young people remain the hardest hit: unemployment among women rose from 14.8% to 16.7% and among men from 8.1% to 8.7%. For 15 to 24-year-olds it reached 30.5%, up from 27.2% in the previous quarter, and for 25 to 34-year-olds 16%, up from 14.5%.
The composite labour under-utilisation rate, which combines strict unemployment, the potential labour force and time-related underemployment, rose from 18.9% to 19.6%. It covers nearly 2.4 million people and reaches 44.5% among 15 to 24-year-olds. The participation rate slipped from 42.2% to 41.8%.
The HCP said a net change between two quarters is not enough on its own to show structural job destruction and may reflect seasonal and cyclical factors. The new survey, covering 135,000 households a year, replaces the National Employment Survey, and the two are not directly comparable.
