The economic recovery that began in the first quarter of 2025, with an estimated growth rate of 4.2%, has led to an upturn in employment.
Over one year, the economy generated 282,000 jobs, reversing the negative trend observed over the same period in 2024, marked by a loss of 80,000 positions. While the upturn in the job market confirms the economy’s ability to bounce back on a macroeconomic level, it cannot mask the persistence of structural fragilities: the rise in underemployment, the ongoing exclusion of young people and women, and so on.
Almost all the jobs created were in urban areas (+285,000), while rural areas continued to sink, with a net loss of 3,000 jobs. The service sector dominated job creation (+216,000), followed by industry (+83,000) and construction (+52,000). Conversely, agriculture, affected by the persistent effects of drought, shed 72,000 jobs, confirming its structural vulnerability to climatic shocks.
This sectoral imbalance reflects the rural fabric’s dependence on agriculture and the concentration of opportunities around urban areas. Today, the service sector accounts for almost half of all jobs (49.2%), compared with 25% for agriculture, 13.2% for industry, and 12.5% for the building and public works sector.
This sectoral breakdown also highlights the relative weakness of the industrial sector, even though it offers more stable and better-paid jobs.
The increase in employment mainly benefited paid jobs (+319,000), while unpaid employment fell by 37,000. However, unpaid employment remains very prevalent in rural areas (21.5% of the workforce) and among women (24.4%), reflecting persistent job insecurity.
Young people (aged 15-34) represent 33.7% of the employed workforce, but only 7.6% are aged between 15 and 24, a sign of the laborious integration of first-time job seekers.
Gender disparities remain marked: women make up just 20.2% of the total workforce. As for qualifications, almost 47% of workers have no diploma at all, compared with just 19.8% with a higher diploma. This hinders the upmarket development of the economic fabric.
Despite this upturn, the activity rate remains structurally low: only 42.9% of people of working age are active, a level barely above that of 2024 (42.6%). The employment rate stands at 37.2%, up 0.5 points, reflecting the labor market’s low absorption capacity. This also reflects the persistent exclusion of large sections of the working-age population.
During the 1st quarter, the national unemployment rate fell by 0.4 points to 13.3%, thanks to the improved situation in urban areas (16.6%, down 1 point).
By contrast, rural unemployment rose to 7.3% (+0.5 points), as a direct consequence of the downturn in agricultural employment. The situation is particularly critical for young people aged 15 to 24, whose unemployment rate stands at 37.7% (+1.8 points), as well as for women (19.9%) and university graduates (19.4%).
Khadija MASMOUDI
