South Asia along with other developing regions across the world is set to face rise in unemployment rate, says a new report. According to the ‘Global Employment Trends 2014’ report published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), unemployment rate in South Asia will edge up to 4 per cent in 2013 from 3.9 per cent in 2012. The United Nations agency forecasts the region’s jobless rate to climb to 4.1 per cent in 2015 which will remain the same till 2018. The report pointed out to the slowdown in Indian economy as the major contributing factor for joblessness rise in the region.  “The current slowdown in India has been propelled by poor perfor mance in the manufacturing sector and low levels of investment. Both of these dimensions are major barriers for South Asian countries in their pursuit of higher and more sustainable rates of growth – growth that also leads to job creation in the formal economy,” it said. According to ILO, South Asia is facing a number of macroeconomic challenges and imbalances including higher inflation, change in investor sentiment and widening fiscal deficits among the countries in the region. 

 

However, the report said that the unemployment rate is not the best indicator of distress in South Asian labour markets, given the high prevalence of informal employment and working poverty. ILO indicated to the lower number of job creation in industrial sector as one of the major problem of the region’s labour market. “In South Asia, labour markets continued to suffer from high rates of informal/agricultural employment where jobs are poorly paid and unprotected,” the report said. 

 

According to ILO estimates Nepal’s unemployment rate is projected to rise to 2.77 per cent in 2014 and 2.72 in 2015from 2.69 per cent in 2013. India, the region’s giant is likely to witness a 3.77 per cent increase in its jobless rate in 2014 from 3.69 per cent estimated for 2013. Similarly, the unemployment rate in Sri Lanka that stood at 4.2 per cent in 2013 is projected to rise to 4.4 per cent in 2014.Likewise, Pakistan would see unemployment rate rising to 5.29 per cent in 2014 from 5.17 per cent in 2013. Meanwhile, jobless rate in Bangladeshis estimated to fall to 4.2 per cent in 2014 from 4.3 per cent in 2013. 

 

Nepal Leads in Female Labour Force Participation

Nepal is leading the South Asian workforce market in terms of female labour force participation. According to the ILO, out of 100, 80 Nepali women are participating in labour force, which is much higher than neighbouring countries.  The report informed that the participation rate of women in the labour force is below 40 per cent in all countries in the region except in the Maldives and Nepal.”The female labour force participation rate in South Asia ranges from just 21 per cent in Afghan¬istan to 79.4 per cent in Nepal,” it said. ILO, however, noted to the fact that engagement of Nepali women in agriculture as more a result of poverty than choice. In comparison, the participation rate for men in South Asia varies far less, ranging from 75 per cent in Sri Lanka and the Maldives to 82.7 per cent in India, according to the report. 

 

Global Unemployment Number Exceeds 200 mn in 2013

ILO presented a bleak outlook of global labour market as the total number of jobless people across the world reached 202 million in 2013 amid the weak employment opportunities triggered by slower economic recovery. “The bulk of the increase in global unemployment is in the East Asia and South Asia regions, which together represent more than 45 per cent of additional job seekers, followed by sub-Saharan Africa and Europe,” ILO said. Based on the current trends, ILO said “global unemployment is set to worsen further, albeit gradually, reaching more than 215 million job seekers by 2018.