Unemployment rises to 3.51% in Q1, overseas jobs rise 14% from March

The number of unemployed people has increased by around 2.4 lakh to 25.9 lakh in the first quarter (January-March) of this year compared to the last quarter (October-December) of the previous year, as reported by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) today.

The unemployment rate has surged to 3.51%, according to the report titled "Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2024 Bangladesh."

In the last quarter of last year, the number of unemployed people in the country was 23.5 lakh.

The unemployed is defined per the International Labour Organisation as those willing to work but have not worked at least one hour in the past seven days and those are looking for paid work in the past 30 days.

Meanwhile, labour migration from Bangladesh has increased by 14% in April this year compared to the previous month and by 8% compared to the same month last year.

Bangladesh sent a total of 85,400 workers abroad in April, while the figure was 74,679 in March, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET).

Male unemployment 3.59%, female 3.36%

The rate of domestic unemployment has increased for both males and females in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the last quarter of 2023.

The rate of unemployment for male stood at 3.59% compared to 3.27% in the last quarter of 2023.

For females, the rate of unemployment stood at 3.36% in this quarter compared to 3.06% in the last quarter of 2023.

However, the rate of unemployment was the same at 3.51% in the first quarter of the previous year as the same period of this year; although the rate of unemployment for males increased and for females it decreased.

Sayema Haque Bidisha, research director at the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem), said, "The number of unemployed fluctuates depending on the production season. For example, in the agricultural sector, the labour force rate increases and decreases with each season. Consequently, the unemployment rate has naturally risen in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of last year."

She added, "The current economic situation is not generating job opportunities. Without alternative policies and increased demand in the labour market, the unemployment rate may continue to rise."

According to BBS data, the number of labour force in the first quarter of this year increased to 7.37 crore compared to 7.36 crore in the same period last year.

The number of employed people rose to 7.11 crore in the first quarter of this year.

BBS data shows that the number of youth labour force aged 15-29 has decreased. It stood at 2.59 crore in the first quarter of 2024, down from 2.74 crore in the same period of the previous year.

According to BBS, the number of people employed in the agriculture and service sectors has decreased equally, while the number employed in the industrial sector increased slightly.

The number of people employed in the industry increased by 5 lakh in the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of last year. Additionally, the number of people employed in the industry increased by 2.6 lakh compared to the last quarter of last year.

As per BBS, the population not in the labour force was 4.82 crore in the first quarter of this year, compared to 4.64 crore in the same period last year.

BBS data has two contradictory information: Zahid Hussain

Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the World Bank's Dhaka office, has said the BBS unemployment data contains two contradictory pieces of information–-increase in the total number of unemployed and increase in the number of people not in the labour force. 

"Looking at the data from BBS, it is evident that the number of unemployed individuals is increasing, indicating that people are becoming frustrated and stopping their job search. Additionally, the number of people not in the labour force has increased. This suggests that the economy is weak," he told TBS.

"But at the same time, employment in the industrial sector has increased, indicating that the economic condition is not weak," he said.

He questions, "On one hand, the number of people not in the labour force has increased, and the number of unemployed has also increased. Yet, simultaneously, industrial employment has increased. The question is: how is this happening?"

Overseas jobs increase by 14% in April

The growth seen in overseas jobs was mainly driven by the Malaysian labour market, as the country hired 17,877 workers from Bangladesh last month, compared to 6,000 in the previous two months.

However, this trend could experience a downturn as the existing quota for Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia is set to close in May, according to labour exporters.

On the other hand, Bangladeshi labour recruitment in Saudi Arabia decreased by 7,658 workers in April compared to March.

However, Kyrgyzstan, a non-traditional market for Bangladeshi workers, entered the top five destinations list in April by hiring 5,240 workers, surpassing Middle Eastern countries like the UAE.

"The number of overseas jobs could decrease due to the halt in labour recruitment in Malaysia in May. To address this issue, we have to explore new markets like Kyrgyzstan," Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former secretary-general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), told TBS.

"Although there is a demand for Bangladeshi workers in some European countries, it becomes difficult for them to obtain a visa because embassies of most countries are not located in Dhaka. As a result, our workers have to go to Delhi for a visa," he added.

Meanwhile, the overall trend of overseas jobs in the first four months of this year was negative compared to the same period of the previous year, as labour migration decreased by 80,000 from January to April this year compared to 2023.