Egypt’s unemployment rate dipped to 7.2% in 1Q 2022 from 7.4% the previous quarter, according to the latest data by state statistics agency Capmas (pdf). Unemployment was also down 0.2 percentage points compared with the same period last year.

The jobless rate has remained more or less flat since the summer of 2020, with only mild fluctuations since spiking to a near-two-year high of 9.6% in 2Q 2020 on the back of the lockdown and economic disruption that accompanied the pandemic.

REMEMBER- The official unemployment rate only includes people who are looking for work. The labor force participation rate — which counts everyone aged 15-64 either in work or actively looking for work — fell 1.0 percentage points from the previous quarter to 42.8%.

Unemployment is still disproportionately affecting young people: The number of 15-29 year-olds out of work accounted for 63.0% of all jobless people, down from last quarter’s 64.3%.

The jobless rate among women remained flat from the previous quarter at 17.7%, down 0.1 percentage points from 4Q 2021. Unemployment among men continued to decline, falling to 4.9% from 5.2% the previous quarter.

Fewer jobs in the private sector? Private sector employment fell every month last quarter and saw its sharpest drop in a year in April, according to PMI data, as firms hold back from making new hires due to rising prices and falling demand.