COVID-19 Pandemic Costs Morocco Nearly 600,000 Jobs in Q2 2020

The spread of the coronavirus pandemic has led to restrictive measures that have not been of great help to the Moroccan economy. According to the High Commission for Planning (HCP), "the volume of employment fell by 589,000 jobs, resulting from a loss of 69,000 in urban areas and 520,000 in rural areas, against an average creation of 64,000 jobs between the second quarters of the three previous years". Paid employment recorded a loss of 264,000 jobs nationwide. As for unpaid employment, it experienced a loss of 325,000 jobs.

According to the same source, "the working-age population increased by 1.5% compared to the second quarter of 2019, against a decline in the active population of 0.8%. The activity rate thus fell from 45.8% to 44.8% between the two periods. It increased from 41.8% to 42.2% in urban areas and fell from 53.2% to 49.6% in rural areas." Still according to HCP data, the employment rate, for its part, fell from 42.1% to 39.3% nationwide.