Egypt's unemployment rate slightly increased to 12.6 percent in the third quarter of 2016 from 12.5 percent in the previous quarter, official statistics agency CAPMAS announced in a statement on Wednesday. The number of unemployed people increased by 80,000 from July to September 2016, resulting in a total of 3.6 million Egyptians seeking work. Egyptians aged 15 to 29 make up 81.4 percent of those unemployed. The CAPMAS statement said that unemployment among females in Q3 reached 25.9 percent compared to 25.6 percent in Q3 of 2015, while unemployment among males increased to 8.7 percent from 8.5 percent. Urban unemployment increased to 14.2 percent from 14.1 percent in the first quarter, while in rural areas, it reached 11.4 percent from a previous 11.2 percent. The total labour force increased in the third quarter by 289,000 from the second quarter in 2016 to reach 28.8 million Egyptians. The Egyptian government says it aims to reduce the unemployment rate to less than 10 percent by the end of the fiscal year 2018/19 based on a targeted growth rate in the economy of at least 6 percent.
