RABAT, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Despite an overall increase in job creation, Morocco's unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent in 2017 from 9.9 percent a year earlier, the official High Commission for Planning revealed Monday.

While Morocco's economy created some 86,000 jobs in 2017, figures show that the job market saw the arrival of 135,000 new job seekers.

The number of the unemployed grew by 49,000 to stand at about 1.2 million.

The urban unemployment rate reaches record high of 42.8 percent among youth aged between 15-24 in Moroccan cities.

The Moroccan government has set as its mandate top goals the reduction of unemployment to 8.5 percent by 2021.