90pc of Bangladeshi jobs informal: ILO
Nearly 90 percent of jobs in Bangladesh are in informal sectors, according to a report of the International Labour Organisation. The report titled “World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2018” found that Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Nepal are in the same bracket as of Bangladesh's when it comes to informal jobs.
“The high incidence of informality continues to challenge prospects of further reduction in working poverty, especially in Southern and South-Eastern Asia,” said the ILO's flagship report. Such high incidence of informality only partly reflects high shares of employment in agriculture – a sector where informality is usually higher than in the rest of the economy, it said.
“In fact, informality in these countries remains pervasive also in the non-agriculture sectors, such as construction, wholesale and retail trade, and accommodation and restaurants.”
In addition, the report also noted that informality continues to affect more than half of workers in China, and more than one in every four workers in the Republic of Korea, with no significant difference between the agriculture sector and the rest of the economy.
The report forecasts that Bangladesh's unemployment rate will be at 4.4 percent or 29 lakh in 2018. The number of the unemployed people will rise by one lakh next year, said the report.
The ILO report said despite a sustained job growth, work deficits and informality challenge prospects of further reduction in working poverty in Asia and the Pacific.
Global unemployment in 2018 was projected to remain at a level similar to the rate in 2017.
The global unemployment rate has been stabilising after a rise in 2016. It reached an estimated 5.6 percent last year, with the total number of unemployed exceeding 19.2 crore.
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