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The Periodic Labour Force (PLF) Survey issued by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has said that the unemployment rate or the proportion of persons in the labor force who could not find jobs has dipped to 4.2 percent in July 2020-June 2021 from 4.8 percent a year ago amid the pandemic that caused economic disruption. The unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in 2018-19 and 6.1 percent in 2017-18.

It showed that joblessness has come down gradually during the four years till 2020-21 (July to June). Similarly, the UR among males has also come down to 4.5 percent in 2020-21 from 5.1 in 2019-20, six percent in 2018-19, and 6.2 percent in 2017-18. The same trend of decline in the UR was found among females as it dipped to 3.5 percent 2020-21 from 4.2 percent in 2019-20, 5.2 percent in 2018-19, and 5.7 percent in 2017-18. Worker Population Ratio (WPR) has also improved.

The WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population. The WPR has increased to 39.8 percent in 2020-21 from 38.2 in 2019-20, 35.3 percent in 2018-20, and 34.7 percent in 2017-18. The WPR in females also improved to 24.2 percent in 2020-21 from 21.8 percent in 2019-20. The WPR among males also rose to 54.9 percent from 53.9 percent in 2019-20. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) has also increased. The LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in the labor force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.