Filed at 1:40 p.m. ET

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Thousands of jobless graduates clashed with police Saturday, protesting a government decision restricting new public sector jobs and training places to people under 28 years old, police said.

Police used tear gas to disperse some 3,000 protesters in Zagazig, capital of the Nile Delta province of Sharkiya, a police official said on condition of anonymity.

Graduates pelted stones at buses and disrupted traffic. Twenty-two rioters and police suffered slight injuries. Smaller protests took place in the Nile Delta towns of Mansoura, Dakahliya and Kalyoubiya on Saturday, the opening day for the new job applications.

The government decision promises 170,000 jobs across Egypt for unemployed tertiary graduates aged under 28. The protesters -- graduates aged over 28 -- were angered at being overlooked for the jobs because of their age.

The Minister of State for Administrative Development, Mohammed Abu-Amer, said Saturday the government can't find jobs for all graduates, saying it makes openings based on its ``real needs,'' according to a report carried by Egypt's Middle East News Agency.

Official figures put unemployment in Egypt at 8 percent, but independent economists believe it is much higher.