Algerian unemployment falls

Unemployment fell for the fourth straight year in Algeria, according to recent government data.

By Mohand Ouali for Magharebia in Algiers – 27/12/10

Joblessness remains on the decline in Algeria.

According to a National Statistics Office survey published December 19th, the unemployment rate fell to roughly 10%, with 1,076,000 out of work.

Unemployment was at 30% in 1999. By 2007, the rate had dropped to 11.8% in 2007. The trend continued: 11.3% in 2008 and 10.2% in 2009.

Unemployment affects different social groups in different ways, the survey also showed. The proportion of jobless women (19.1%) is higher than that of men (8.1%).

Young people are affected the worst. Among those aged 16-24, just over one in five (21.5%) is unemployed, whereas the rate is just 7% for those aged 25 and over.

While unemployment in Algeria affects young people the most, which has certain far-reaching effects, the survey also highlighted another troubling trend. The findings appear to show that unemployment among university graduates – currently 21.4% - is much higher than the 7.3% of those without degrees.

Women with university education fare the worst, with a jobless rate of 33.6%.

The survey showed that 9,735,000 Algerians are employed (up from 6 million in 1999). Of these, 1,474,000 are women. Two out of every three workers are employed by companies. The commerce and service sectors account for more than half of jobs (55.2%), followed by construction (19.4%), manufacturing (13.7%), and finally agriculture (11.7%). The private sector, which numbers 6.39 million workers, employs two-thirds of the workforce.

While presenting the government's Statement of General Policy to the Council of the Nation on December 19th, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said that the progress made in human development, improved living standards and the fall in unemployment were made possible by Algeria's large-scale public investment in recent years.

Ouyahia recalled that the government’s three main objectives over the last five years have been to achieve annual growth of 8% in the agricultural sector, to raise the manufacturing sector’s contribution to overall added value to 10%, and to bring unemployment down to well below 10%. He warned that the use of public funds could not go on forever and called on the private sector to take a more active role in investment in economic growth.

Senators voiced concerns about the scale of unemployment and its impact on young people. Brahim Ghouma spoke of the "marginalization" suffered by many university graduates in Illizi Province, saying the Algerian state invested in their training but had yet to offer them jobs.

Messaoud Femama suggested that young people in the southern provinces be offered a "special scheme" to prevent them from falling prey to political chicanery.

Several senators stressed the need to focus on young people in all regions, in order to integrate them into the national economy.

Zohra Drif-Bitat questioned whether the state "has really done what is necessary to enable young people to face the challenges of the twenty-first century and to have a decent standard of living, as they deserve to".

Louisa Chachoua stressed the importance of finding jobs for young graduates, describing their potential exodus as a "serious problem".

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/12/27/feature-01.