Rawalpindi Division unemployment rate highest in Punjab: survey

LAHORE: Though the unemployment rate is on the rise in Punjab, the youth of Rawalpindi division is bearing the brunt of the situation where over 17 percent are struggling to find a job.

It was revealed in a survey jointly conducted by PRIDE and Gallup Pakistan to ascertain the unemployment rate in the biggest province especially among educated males and females.

The data from the Labour Force Survey 2020-21 showed that the overall unemployment rate among youth in Punjab rested at 6.69 percent.

According to the research findings, with 20.7 million people, Lahore division emerged as the highest populated division in Punjab while Sahiwal with 7.9 million people stood as the lowest populated division of the province.

Gujranwala division recorded the highest rural population (10.9 million) and the Lahore division registered the highest urban population (14.4 million) in the province. The population of young people in the age bracket of (18-29) rested at 31 million individuals in Punjab which is equivalent to the entire population of Canada. The overall unemployment rate in the Punjab province recorded at 6.69 percent, including 8.32 percent females and 6.06 percent males. Besides, the unemployed urban population (7.94 percent) is relatively higher than their rural counterparts (6.11 percent). The division-wise analysis of youth unemployment rate in Punjab showed that Rawalpindi division had the highest (17.78 percent) and Bahawalpur division (4.45 percent) possessed the lowest unemployment rate.

Those having the highest qualification as matric made up the highest proportion of unemployed youth i.e 20.01 percent, while those who studied less than a year had the lowest share of unemployment at 0.39 percent, the survey disclosed.

Around 23.52 percent of unemployed female youth in Punjab had a Master’s degree while only 3 percent of unemployed males possessed a Master’s degree.

Youth unemployment refers to youth (15-29 years old) population that are economically active but currently without work and are in search of employment. This measure does not include people such as full-time students or those who are not looking for work and considered as economically inactive individuals. This indicator serves as a measure of potential youth labour market entrants that remain under-utilized.

CEO PRIDE Dr Lubna Shahnaz stated that the labour force statistics usually available at national or provincial level did not adequately capture labour market dynamics across different regions even within a particular province. More disaggregated statistics at divisional level would enable a more in-depth examination of labour market situation and facilitate in development of relevant policies and programs at a grass roots level, she added.

The study’s most alarming finding is that the higher educated youth is more unemployed as compared to their lesser educated counterparts.