Unemployment up in Q1

The number of unemployed people increased by 0.31 percentage points to 25.9 lakh in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the last quarter of the previous year.

However, compared to the January-March period of 2022, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.49 percentage points to 3.51 per cent in the first quarter of this year, says the Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2023 published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). It said the number of unemployed people was 29.5 lakh in the first quarter of 2022.

The survey findings were unveiled at a press conference at the National Economic Council in the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar on Tuesday.

The previous Labour Force Survey in 2022 said the unemployment rate declined to 3.6 per cent from 4.2 per cent in 2016-17.

The total labour force is the number of people aged 15 and above who are engaged in work alongside the number of unemployed people.

The 2023 first quarter survey results show the country’s total labour force increased to 7.36 crore, including 4.82 crore males and 2.54 crore females. 7.11 crore people were employed, including 4.65 crore men and 2.45 crore women.

Also, of the total employed, 3.19 crore worked in the agriculture sector, 1.22 crore in the industrial sector, and 2.69 crore in the service sector.

State Minister for Planning Prof Shamsul Alam said the BBS for the first time has published the findings of the Labour Force Survey quarterly and would also publish GDP data quarterly.

“The bureau in recent times has been very active and vibrant,” he said, adding the findings of the Labour Force Survey and GDP data are vital for understanding the health of the economy.

He also said the findings of the survey matched expectations.

In the fourth quarter (October-December) of 2022, the total labour force was 7.289 crore, including 4.705 crore males and 2.584 crore females.

The total number of employed people in the fourth quarter of 2022 was 7.091 crore, including 4.573 crore males and 2.518 crore females.

The BBS survey shows some 4.639 crore people remained outside the labour force in the first quarter of 2023, including 1.119 crore males and 3.52 crore females.

The rate of participation in the labour force in the first quarter of 2023 was 61.37 per cent, including 81.17 per cent for males and 41.95 per cent for females.

The total number of youth force in the country aged between 15 and 29 was 2.738 lakh during this period, including 1.403 lakh males and 1.335 lakh females.

The Labour Force Survey is conducted across the country and data is collected from some 30,816 households in each quarter.