Unemployment doubles in a space of a year: study

Source: Express Tribune

Date: November 15, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The findings of two separate reports – one compiled by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and another by Islamabad-based Pakistan Public Administration (PBA) – concur that joblessness is increasing by leaps and bounds and an unskilled person is as likely to lose a job as a highly-educated and skilled worker.

According to CIA’s findings, the unemployment rate in Pakistan has doubled during the current year against the past year’s figures.

CIA’s World Fact Book, which is available on the web, says that the unemployment rate jumped from 7.4 per cent in 2009 to 15.2 per cent this year.

Incidence of unemployment among highly-educated and skilled people is on the rise and government policies to provide jobs to people have been discouraging. Official data collected between 2006 and 2009 showed that the total number of civil servants in federal government’s services was 240,558 against 234,933 in the period between 2003 and 2006, reflecting an increase of just four per cent, with only 9,625 people provided with jobs.

According to the 14th census of the Federal Government Civil Servants carried by the Islamabad-based PPA, there were 12,284 women in civil services between 2006 and 2009 against 10,959 in the 2003-2006 period.

The official report, released in August 2010, shows the increase of women female civil servants was only 10.78 per cent.

The total sanctioned strength for all categories of federal government employees was 419,499 during 2006 – 2007, while the actual strength was 375,932 in July 2006. No official department knows the actual number of unemployed persons across the country, because the national census survey has not been carried out over the past 12 years because of various security and political reasons.

For more information view the link: http://tribune.com.pk/story/77528/unemployment-doubles-in-a-space-of-a-year-study/