July 31, 2007	Tuesday	Rajab 15, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 30: The government has claimed to have created 730,000 new jobs during the July-December period of 2006-07. The ministry of finance in a report released here on Monday said the number of employed people rose to 48.09 million during the period under review from 47.36 million in July-December 2005-06.

According to Labour Force Survey July-December 2006-07, the overall unemployment rate had declined to 5.3 per cent from 6.5 per cent in July-December 2005-06. In rural areas it declined from 5.7 per cent to 4.6, while for urban areas to 6.8 per cent from 8.4 per cent.

Both male and female unemployment rates have declined both in rural and urban areas. However, the female unemployment is very high, which declined to 14.5 per cent in urban areas from 15.9 per cent, while it stood at 6.8 per cent in rural areas dipped from 8.2 per cent.

The decline in female unemployment in both rural and urban areas can be attributed to two factors. Firstly, it has been observed in many developing countries including Pakistan that females would not enter the job markets due to perceived or otherwise discriminatory factors.

In recent years, in Pakistan, it is now being observed that such impression is being dispelled as female participation rate is on the rise, as female labour force participation rate was 11.1 per cent in 2003-04, which increased to 14.1 per cent during July-December 2005-06 and further to 14.5 per cent in July-December 2006-07.

This trend is due to the increased job opportunities. Secondly, the availability of micro finance facilities focusing on women particularly in rural areas has created new opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

Unemployment is defined as all persons 10 years of age and above who during the reference period were without work i.e., were neither in paid or self-employment nor employed as unpaid family helpers, currently available for work i.e., were available for paid employment or self-employment, and seeking work i.e., had taken specific steps in a specified period to seek paid or self-employment.

Sustaining economic growth is expected to further generate employment opportunities. This is likely to reduce overall unemployment to 4 per cent by 2009-10 under the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) 2005-10.

Since approximately 1.0 million people enter the job market each year, creating jobs for them is the key to reducing poverty and thus leading the country towards new heights of economic and social prosperity, added the report.