Egypt unemployment rises to highest rate in 10 years

[News_Editor]

Egypt unemployment rises to highest rate in 10 years

2011-05-26 04:59:22 GMT+7 (ICT)

CAIRO, EGYPT (BNO NEWS) -- Egypt's statistics agency on Wednesday informed that unemployment rose to 11.9 percent, the highest rate in the last ten years, the Ahram newspaper reported.

Abu Bakr El-Guindi, head of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), added that the number of unemployed citizens in Egypt was 3.1 million; 799,000 more than before the revolution.

The North African country's unemployment rate increased by 3 percent in the first quarter of 2011 in comparison to the previous 8.9 percent registered in December 2010.

El-Guindi also informed that only 26.3 million people (33 percent) of the country's estimated 80 million citizens are currently employed. He stressed that the current situation is a consequence of the economic crisis following the January 25 revolution.

The newly-disclosed data also indicates that 28.9 percent of the unemployed Egyptians concluded a college education while 52.6 percent had some technical or vocational studies.

The economy of the North African country was severely affected by the mass uprisings that ended the 30-year-long regime of ousted President Hosny Mubarak. Protesters staged 18 days of demonstrations calling for greater democracy and respect of human rights.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took control of Egypt and began prosecuting officials within the previous regime over fraud, corruption and abuse of power allegations.

However, the country continues struggling with internal conflicts which have stalled the recovery of the economy. Sectarian clashes between Muslims and Christian Copts have increased since last year, leaving dozens dead and many injured.

On May 7, two Christian Copt churches were attacked by Muslim Salafists in the Cairo suburb of Imbaba, where 12 people were killed and 240 were injured during sectarian clashes. There are around 8 million in Egypt, which represent about 10 percent of the population.

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