Pakistan: 8 million people remain jobless as unemployment rate jumps to 7.1%

Islamabad [Pakistan], November 26 (ANI): The unemployment rate in Pakistan has risen, resulting in the number of jobless people in the country crossing the figure of eight million people, Ary News reported, citing the Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2024-2025 released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

According to the survey, Ary News said that the unemployment rate surged by 0.8 percentage points to reach 7.1 per cent.

Pakistan's population stands at 240 million, and the labour force volume has risen to 77.2 million.

Shocking statistics reported by Ary News show that while the working-age population stands at 43 per cent, the unemployed or inactive population stands at 53.8 per cent.

It mentioned that in 2020-21, the average pay in Pakistan was PKR 24,028 in the year 2020-2021 and added that the men's current monthly average pay stands at PKR 39,302, while the figure for women stands at PKR 37,347.

Earlier in October, the World Bank questioned Pakistan's recent claims of poverty reduction, observing that only limited groups within the poor have witnessed any marginal improvement, while rural populations continue to languish under worsening economic pressures.

The World Bank said that its models for measuring poverty were meant to provide general trends, not statistically precise data, as reported by The Express Tribune.

According to The Express Tribune, responding to inconsistencies highlighted in two of its reports, the Bank explained that modest signs of economic recovery during the last fiscal year had slightly benefited those working in sectors like logistics and construction.

It further emphasised that Pakistan's current economic model is insufficient to deliver sustainable improvements in living standards, as highlighted by The Express Tribune.

Pakistan's progress against poverty stalled after 2015, with setbacks following the COVID-19 crisis, devastating floods in 2022, and record inflation.

Nearly 40% of children remain stunted, a sign of deep-rooted deficiencies in human development and public service quality.

The World Bank concluded that forthcoming household surveys would finally provide updated poverty data, replacing years of rough projections and revealing the country's true socioeconomic reality, as reported by The Express Tribune. (ANI)

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