In the early 1980s, structural adjustment programs had serious social costs for most African countries, particularly in terms of job loss. An unemployment rate of about percent resulted from cuts in govern- ment payrolls and the restructuring or liquidation of enterprises and financial institutions. The situation was aggravated by urbanization, making the labor supply particularly elastic in our countries. In Senegal in 1989, young people accounted for percent of the total number of unemployed men and percent of the total number of unemployed women. During that period, the economic growth rate was around percent compared to a population growth rate of percent. The con- stant.
