Egypt's unemployment rate edged up to 9.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009, from 9.36 per cent in the third quarter, the state statistics agency website reported (www.capmas.gov.eg). The world economic downturn hurt Egypt's key revenue earners such as tourism, Suez Canal receipts and remittances from Egyptians abroad, but its economy has weathered the crisis relatively well compared to others in the Middle East. Investment bank Beltone Financial said the fourth-quarter jobless figure was lower than expected. "We had expected unemployment could reach 10 per cent in Egypt as the private sector opted to keep its skilled labour but not take on new hires," Beltone said in a research note. "There is a shortage in skilled labour in Egypt, compared to an excess of semi-skilled university graduates who need extensive training to become eligible for the Egyptian labour market." Egypt's workforce rose to 25.26 million people in the fourth quarter, an increase of 58,000 over the previous quarter, the note published on the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics website said. The state news agency MENA had previously reported the jobless rate was 9.26 per cent in the third quarter of 2009. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear. Officials have said Egypt, the most populous Arab country, needs to create some 650,000 jobs a year.
