Egypt's state statistics agency CAPMAS has said in a statement released on International Labor Day that Egypt's labor force reached approximately 28.865 million persons with a 90.1 percent employment rate in 2018.

CAPMAS put the unemployment rate at 9.9 percent of the total workforce, numbering 2.9 million.

The rate of unemployment among females has reached 21.3 percent, and 6.8 percent among males, according to the report.

The statement said the workforce in urban areas reached 12.182 million, while in rural areas it has reached 16.683 million.

Last March, Manpower Minister Mohamed Saafan said that the unemployment rate in Egypt went from 13.3 percent in the second quarter of 2014 to 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 due to the ongoing national mega projects.

In recent years, the government has spent billions of dollars on mega projects including new electric power stations, expanding the Suez Canal, building highways, and a new administrative capital, which have provided employment to tens of thousands of Egyptians. 

Since 2014, the government has been implementing a set of economic reforms to lower budget deficits, including floating the local currency, cutting energy subsidies, and putting in place a Value-Added Tax.