Frustration is growing among the jobseekers in the country as the scope of employments is not getting wide open. According to the latest survey of the government, there are 2.6 million unemployed people in the country. The unemployment rate has slightly changed from 4.3 per cent in 2013 to 4.2 per cent last year.
What is surprising is that the number of jobs rose impressively during 2002-2013, by 1.36 million per year. But the number has fallen to only 0.3 million a year since 2013, according to the survey. In fact, Bangladesh failed to create adequate number of jobs despite higher economic growth in recent years. Such growth, particularly since 2013, could not result in enough job creation.
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey Bangladesh 2015-16, released this week and conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), rural areas have 1.82 million unemployed people, more than double the number of those 0.77 million in urban areas. Mention may be made that the urban-rural population ratio is 30:70 in the country.
While conducting the survey, the BBS followed the international standard definition of unemployment on various aspects of people's economic activity. As defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), people who are out of work, want a job, have actively sought work in the previous four weeks and are available to start work within the next fortnight come under the purview of the unemployed category.
The private sector is supposed to create more employment opportunities than the public sector in the country. But the investment in the private sector is stagnat for quite a long time. This isp one of the major reasons behind the high unemployment rate. It is difficult for the country to achieve 7.0 per cent plus growth rate when private investment declines as percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) and tax collection remains low.
According to the survey, unemployed male and female are equal in number - 1.3 million. The number of female unemployed population was higher three years ago. An estimated 62.1 million people aged 15 or above are now in the labour force, up from 60.7 million in 2013.
An estimated 1.8 million of those having jobs of less than 40 hours a week were found looking for new or additional jobs. The latest survey also found 86.2 per cent of the total employed population aged 15 or above in informal employment.
Between 2016 and 2013, non-agriculture sectors like industry, trade and other services absorbed a higher number of people than the farming sector. As a result, the proportion of jobs in the agriculture sector declined to 42.7 per cent in 2016 from 45.1 percent in 2013.
What is worrying is that the more degrees one obtains, the more he runs the risk of remaining unemployed. The BBS survey shows that unemployment rate was the highest among people having tertiary education. It is, however, higher among women than men. Interestingly, the unemployment rate among people without any schooling was the lowest, as only 2.2 per cent of them were unemployed during the survey period.
The rate of job creation, and labour productivity have also declined although various factors such as inflation, bank interest rate on loans, balance of payments position and exchange rates remain favourable for economic growth.
Impressive economic performance since the early 2000s was accompanied by strong growth in labour force up to 2013. But, this trend is currently showing signs of stagnation. In light of impressive GDP growth, sluggish labour market growth and an emerging demographic dividend provide causes of concern.
Investment growth in the manufacturing sector remains low particularly because of a lack of adequate infrastructure, including the supply of quality electricity and gas. New investment in the apparel sector, which accounts for 48.3 per cent of the manufacturing sector, has also been slow.
The quality of education in the country is also not up to the mark. There is a need for enhancing the quality of higher education with a special focus on skill development. [email protected]
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