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MORE AND BETTER JOBS IN SOUTH ASIA
FIGURE 3B.1 Regional variations in employment rate in South Asia, by country 90 Mid -Western
West Central 85
84 (5.9)
80 Central
75 Eastern percent
70
69 (9.0)
67 (16.7)
North-Central
65 Sylhet 60 55 50
Western Western
58 (4.7) Chittagong
58 (6.7)
61 (5.7) Lagging
Central
Punjab 50 (7.8)
Central
Western
48 (8.8)
45
NWFP South
40 Afghanistan Bangladesh 2008 2005
Bhutan 2007
India 2005
Maldives 2004
Nepal 2008
Pakistan 2009
Sri Lanka 2008
Source: Authors, based on data from national labor force and household surveys. Note: Each diamond represents the employment rate in a region. The regions with the highest and lowest employment rates are named. Each box represents the average employment rate of all regions in the country; figures in parentheses are coefficients of variation, calculated as the standard deviation of the regional employment rates normalized by the mean of these rates.
Notes 1. The labor force participation rate and the employment rate in India in 2009/10 were 56.6 percent and 54.8 percent, respectively. There is a sharp decline from 2004/05, leading to only a very small increase (in absolute terms) in the labor force and total employment between 2004/05 and 2009/10. The decline has been driven by a sharp fall in female labor force participation and employment rates (male rates have also declined, but far less sharply), which led to a significant decrease in rural female labor force and employment in absolute terms. The decline in female participation was observed in all age groups including school age cohorts (15–19 years old and 20–24 years old) but also older cohorts. Rural female employment declined particularly in agriculture. Self-employment declined both in number and as a share of total employment, while casual wage labor accounted for nearly 80 percent of net additional employment in those sectors that expanded employment between 2004/05 and 2009/10. Usual subsidiary employment rates
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(identified as activity pursued by the individual for a relatively minor time, but not less than 30 days during the past year) fell sharply compared to previous years. Usual principal employment status (defined on the basis of the activity pursued for the longest—major—time during the reference year) only experienced a modest decline. The reasons for the decline in labor force participation and employment rates remain to be analyzed fully, but possible reasons include (a) younger workers, especially women, staying longer in education; (b) rising family incomes reducing the need for women to work; and (c) shocks in the agriculture sector. It is important to note that over the longer period between 1983 and 2010 labor force participation and employment rates have increased and decreased without a consistent trend, although the employment and participation rates in 2010 are lower than in any previous period. Using current weekly status, the labor force participation rate was 59.7 percent, 62.0 percent, 60.4 percent, 62.2 percent, and 56.6 percent in 1983, 1994, 2000, 2005, and 2010, respectively, and the employment rate was 57.5 percent,
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