Industrial sector employed population increases by 1.7% in 3Q

By Waruni Paranagamage

Sri Lanka’s industrial sector employed population has increased by 1.7% to 27.2% in the third quarter of 2015, the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) said.

Noting that the economically active population in Sri Lanka was estimated at nine million in the third quarter of 2015 the data shows 45.5% engaged in the services sector, while 27.4% was recorded in the agriculture sector.

The DCS released the employment, unemployment and labour force statistics for the third quarter in 2015 based on a sample of about 6,250 housing units enumerated during the quarter covering the whole country under the Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey.

Despite the industrial sector employed population increase of 1.7%, the survey pointed out that the engagement in industrial sector employment share is still at the lowest compared to the service and agricultural sector.

According to the released statistics it shows that the agricultural sector employed population during the third quarter has declined by 1% to 27.4% compared to the previous quarter. The service sector employed population also has declined by 0.4% in the third quarter from 45.9% which was recorded in the second quarter.

It further reveals that the labour force participation rate (LFPR) in Sri Lanka has also declined to 53.8% from 54.3% reported in the second quarter of 2015.

The labour force is defined as the current economically active population which is of working age and among the total working age population which is employed or unemployed during the reference week is defined as the economically active population.

The survey results further show that the labour force participation of female workers has decreased to 35.7% during the third quarter of 2015 from 36.7% recorded during the second quarter of 2015.

According to DCS data, the estimated unemployment rate for the third quarter of 2015 is 5%. The youth (age 15-24) unemployment rate is recorded at 22.9%, which comprises 20.3% male and 26.8% female respectively.

It is important to note that the unemployment rate is higher among educated people who have a minimum G.C.E (A/L) qualification.