Egypt’s unemployment rate has declined to pre-revolution levels amid an economic recovery and an increase in national development projects that employ thousands of young people.

According to a report released Feb. 14 by the state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the country’s unemployment rate fell to 8.9% in the fourth quarter of last year compared with 10% in the third quarter and 11.3% in the same quarter a year earlier.

The total labor force stood at about 28 million (22.7 million males and 5.3 million females). The urban labor force reached 11.4 million, while the rural labor force stood at 16.6 million. The number of unemployed, meanwhile, stood at 2.5 million (1.45 million males, 1.05 million females).

“One of the main reasons behind the drop in the unemployment rate is job fairs organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower to provide employment opportunities for young people in the private sector. Thousands of opportunities have been provided,” Ahmed el-Shami, an economist and professor of feasibility studies at Ain Shams University, told Al-Monitor.