In the second quarter of 2024 (April-June), Bangladesh's unemployment rate has surged to 3.65%, up from 3.41% during the same period last year, marking a 0.24 percentage point increase.
This is the highest unemployment rate recorded since 2016, according to the latest report from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The report reveals that the unemployment rate among men has increased to 3.85% over the past three months, the highest level in 14 years.
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2024, released by BBS on Wednesday (28 August), highlights a significant decline in employment, with approximately 1.07 million jobs lost in the past year.
Additionally, the number of people participating in the labour market has decreased by around 930,000.
Sector-specific data shows a reduction of 230,000 jobs in agriculture, while the industrial sector has gained nearly 200,000 jobs. However, the service sector has experienced a substantial decline, with approximately 1.04 million jobs lost, according to BBS.
Economists said the decline in employment to various national economic challenges, including rising inflation, reduced domestic demand, and other crises.
They believe that addressing these issues and boosting investment and industrialisation will be significant challenges for the interim government.
The report indicates that the agriculture sector remains the largest employer, engaging 44% of the workforce, while the industrial sector employs 18%, and the service sector employs 38%.
As of April-June, the number of employed individuals has decreased to 69.64 million, down from 70.71 million in the same period last year.
This represents a loss of approximately 1.07 million jobs over the past year, with 330,000 jobs lost by men and 740,000 by women. Notably, about 69% of those who lost their jobs in the past year were women.
The labour force has decreased by 930,000 over the past year, with the current size standing at 7 crore 72.28 million, compared to 73.21 million last year. Among those who exited the labour market, 150,000 were men and 780,000 were women, indicating that approximately 84% of those who left the labour market were women.
BBS sources indicate that internationally, working for just one hour per week is considered employment. Additionally, those who do not search for work for a month are classified as outside the labour market rather than as unemployed. Including approximately 930,000 such individuals, the actual number of unemployed people would be significantly higher.
As of April-June, the number of unemployed individuals stands at 2.64 million, compared to 2.5 million in the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 140,000 or 5.6%. This is the highest number of unemployed individuals recorded in eight years, with 2.7 million unemployed in 2016.
Dr. Selim Raihan, Professor of Economics at Dhaka University and Executive Director of SANEM, commented that the growing unemployment is evident from recent student protests in July and the August revolution. He stated that if there were sufficient and attractive opportunities in the private sector, such large-scale protests for government jobs would not have occurred.
He further explained that ongoing instability in the banking sector, investment drought, rising inflation, and a collapse in domestic economic demand have contributed to the decline in employment. "Approximately 87% of our total employment is in the informal sector, primarily involving self-employment and small enterprises in the service sector. The lack of regulatory enforcement in these sectors results in higher incidences of job losses," he added.
Dr. Raihan emphasised that without appropriate measures to revitalise the economy, the issue of unemployment will worsen in other sectors as well. He noted that creating decent employment opportunities for the youth will be a major challenge for the current interim government.
