ISLAMABAD, May 11: Unemployment in the country declined by 1.2 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal year, Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Thursday while sharing the details of Labour Survey 2005-06.

He said the labour force grew by 5.49 million during the first half of current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of 2003-04.

The share of rural and urban population in this increased labour force was 4.35 million and 1.14 million, respectively.

The federal minister contended that the decline in unemployment level (7.7 per cent to 6.5 per cent) was a result of sustained efforts of the government.

“It shows the commitment on the part of the government to bring prosperity to the masses.”

The unemployed labour force was estimated to be 3.5 million in 2003-04, which has now decreased to 3.33 million. Mr Khan said there had been a 0.17 million reduction in the unemployed labour force. This reduction was 0.08 million for urban areas and 0.09 million for rural areas, he added.

He said according to statistics, there was 60 per cent unemployment rate for rural areas and 39.9 per cent for urban areas.

The minister said 21.37 million people were attached to agriculture, while construction and manufacturing sectors were the major areas providing employment. The manufacturing sector has added 0.69 million jobs, the construction sector 0.38 million and agricultural sector 3.285 million.

Mr Khan expressed the hope that due to continuous efforts of the government, unemployment would further go down in the days to come.