Unemployment rate in Bangladesh rises to 4.63 Percent

Bangladesh's unemployment rate increased to 4.63 percent in the second quarter of fiscal year 2024-25, as a growing number of job seekers failed to secure employment, according to the latest Quarterly Labor Force Survey (QLFS) data. The jobless rate stood at 3.95 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) said Sunday.

In the July-September quarter of fiscal year 2024-25, the unemployment rate was 4.49 percent, as economic activity nearly came to a halt amid a mass uprising that led to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina regime and subsequent labor unrest in major industrial areas of Dhaka.

The number of unemployed people was 2.66 million during the third quarter. This figure rose to 2.73 million in the October-December period, the BBS said. With this, the number of unemployed people rose to 2.7 million in 2024, up from 2.55 million the previous year.

The overall unemployment rate last year was 4.48 percent, compared to 4.15 percent in 2023. The latest QLFS data also showed that the labor force participation rate declined in the fourth quarter of 2024 and throughout the year, mainly due to reduced participation of women in the workforce.

In the October-December quarter of 2024, the labor force participation rate dropped to 48.41 percent from 50.27 percent a year earlier. During the full year, the labor force participation rate was 49.49 percent, compared to 50.92 percent in 2023.

According to the BBS, of the 58.93 million people in the workforce in the fourth quarter of last year, 56.2 million were employed, a decline compared to the same period a year earlier.