AHSAN HABIB

Jobs in Bangladesh are not being created in line with the demand from its youth population, leading to a rise in unemployment despite the urgent need for more job opportunities.

Bangladesh’s unemployment rate increased to 4.63 percent in the October-December period of fiscal year 2024-25 as a growing number of job seekers failed to secure employment, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) data.

The number of unemployed people rose to 2.7 million in 2024, up from 2.55 million the previous year.

The jobless rate stood at 3.95 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) said yesterday.

However, this increased to 4.49 percent in the July-September quarter of FY25 after economic activities ground to a halt following a mass uprising that led to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led government and subsequent labour unrest in major industrial areas of Dhaka.

The overall unemployment rate stood at 4.48 percent last year compared to 4.15 percent in 2023.

In the October-December quarter of 2024, the labour force participation rate dropped to 48.41 percent from 50.27 percent a year earlier. During the full year, the labour force participation rate was 49.49 percent, compared to 50.92 percent in 2023.