Egypt’s private sector cut jobs at the fastest pace in nearly six years in May, highlighting growing strains on businesses despite the country’s official unemployment rate falling to a record low earlier this year.
Companies shed workers at the quickest pace since June 2020 as soaring operating costs, fuelled partly by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, squeezed margins and dampened business activity, according to the latest S&P Global Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).
The deterioration in private-sector employment comes a few weeks after the Arab nation’s unemployment rate fell to six percent in the first quarter of this year, its lowest level on record, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
The contrasting trends underscore mounting pressure on it’s non-oil private sector, which has struggled with rising input costs, weaker demand and supply chain disruptions.
“Job cuts also accelerated to their fastest
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