Unemployment rate lower in agricultural sector

by Rohana Jayalal

Unemployment is lower in Sri Lanka’s agricultural areas than in urbanised areas, according to labour market surveys conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics. There are less unemployed people in the predominantly agricultural districts such as Moneragala, Badulla, according to the Department of Census and Statistics. “That’s because there are more economic opportunities in these areas,” a Census Department official said.

Female labour force participation is also high in such districts, the departmental surveys have revealed. Sri Lanka has a working-age population of 16.5 million of which 8.9 million or 53.3 percent are economically active.

Those not in the labour force and considered economically inactive number 7.7 million or 46.7 percent of the working-age population.

The potential labour force - those not in the labour force but have shown some interest in having a job - are about 243,401, the official said. Unemployment is worse in the rural sector where it was over 25% between the last two survey periods. The estate sector, despite the high rate of under-employment, has experienced some reduction.

The urban sector, which has more opportunities compared to other sectors, also has high under-employment at around 15 percent. The incidence by gender and economic sectors indicates that all three sectors - agriculture, industry, and services, have an under-employment rate above 15%. The rate in the agriculture sector is the highest at over 30% . The other two sectors too have under-employment rates above 15%. Gender wise, females have higher under-employment rates in the agriculture sector.

The Labour Force Participation Rate in Sri Lanka increased to 54.30 percent in the second quarter of 2015 from 53.60 percent in the first quarter of 2015. It averaged 49.97 percent from 1990 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 54.30 percent in the second quarter of 2015 and a record low of 46.90 percent in the third quarter of 1992.

Other problems of unemployment are more acute in the case of educated females compared to educated males, the Department of Census and Statistics survey revealed.

Sri Lanka’s economically active population was about 8.9 million in the second quarter 2015. Of which, 63.3 percent were males and 36.7 percent females.

Out of the economically inactive population, 25.9 percent were males and 74.1 percent females. The male participation in the labour force was always higher than that of females, the survey revealed.

During the second quarter of 2015, the total number of employed persons in Sri Lanka was estimated at around 8.5 million, of which, about 44.7 percent were engaged in the services sector, 25.9 percent in the industrial sector and 29.4 percent in the agricultural sector.

The highest employment share is in the services sector and this is true for both males and females, while the lowest shares is for the industrial sector. Among employed females, 33 percent were in the agricultural sector while this was 27.4 percent for males.

The number of unemployed persons is estimated around 243,401 during the first quarter of 2015. The unemployment rate for the second quarter of 2015 is 4.7 percent.

Overall unemployment rate as reported for females was 7.9 percent and 2.9 percent for males.

Youth unemployment rate for 15–24 years for the second quarter 2015 was 21.7 percent which was the highest unemployment rate among all other age groups. Further, rates for both males and females were 15.3 and 31.2 percent respectively for the age group 15—24.

The survey results further revealed that unemployment among females was higher than that of males, in all age groups. Youth and female unemployment contribute more to the overall unemployment of the country.

The highest unemployment rate was reported from those who have passed the GCE (A/L) and above, which is about 10.1 percent. Corresponding percentages are 5.3 percent and 14.3 percent for males and females respectively. Female unemployment rates are higher than those of males in all levels of education.

The number of unemployed persons was estimated at around 243,401 during the second quarter 2015.

The unemployment rate for the second quarter 2015 was 4.7 percent.

This shows that the problem of unemployment is more acute among educated females than educated males, which has also been the picture in previous survey results.

Under-employment in different institutional sectors of the economy indicates that it is widespread among all sectors at around 30%.

However, it is extremely high in the informal private sector, which houses most of the small and micro level enterprises which could contribute to the economy if harnessed effectively.

The province-wise comparison indicates that the incidence of underemployment is also widespread among all administrative regions. Only the Western Province and the Central Province have recorded rates below the national average, where the former has the lowest rate probably due to the high concentration of economic activity.

There are many reasons for underemployment. Nearly 50 percent can be attributed to three reasons, nature of work (22%), reduction in economic activity (15%), and off-season inactivity (10%).

A careful evaluation of the reasons reveals that only a few are beyond the control of policies and most can be reduced to a great extent by creating a conducive consistent policy environment for economic activity.