ISLAMABAD (Khaleej Times) — Pakistan is witnessing a higher rate of unemployment during the last two years than the first eight years of the last decade, believes the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In its latest report, the Bank said that unemployment situation has deteriorated for youth in Balochistan since 1999-2000. Young people in Balochistan are more than twice as likely to be unemployed than their counterparts in Punjab.

The youth employment situation in NWFP is not particularly good either. These provinces just need serious policy interventions to reduce their relative disadvantages in providing employment to their youth population, states the bank's latest report on demographic transition, education and youth unemployment in Pakistan between 1990 and 2006.

Unemployment in Sindh and Balochistan jumped up during 2001-02 and 2003-04 as the number of jobless people in NWFP more than doubled the 1990-91 level.

The study reveals that overall unemployment rate in the country declined from 8.3 percent in 2001-02 to 7.7 percent in 2003-04. Despite this reduction, the overall unemployment rate in the last two years was higher than the unemployment rates observed during 1990-98.

The highest level of unemployment — 12.9 percent — was found in NWFP in 2003-04, while the lowest level was in Sindh (6 percent). In Punjab and Balochistan, 7 and 8 percent of the labor force, respectively, was unemployed during this period.

Punjab has not witnessed any major change in the level of unemployment over the last decade and a half. However, the study shows that Balochistan has suffered a lot where unemployment increased to 8 percent in 2003-04 than less than two percent in 990/91. In Sindh the unemployment level remained low around three percent but jumped to five percent in 2001-02 and to six percent in 2003-04.

A province-wise analysis shows that Blochistan and NWFP have recently been left behind in providing employment opportunities to jobless people particularly to urban males in small and medium towns.

The benefits of the recent economic growth are, therefore, not evenly distributed in terms of generating employment opportunities, states the report.

The gender gape of more than 50 percent points in Pakistan's labor force participation rate (LFPR) is much higher than the average gape of 35 percent in South Asia, which shows how much we have been successful in empowering women economically.

The study has also revealed another dangerous aspect of Pakistani labor market where conditions are worsening for the 25-34-year-old who has more economic obligations. According to 2003-04 figures, about one-third of labor force in this age group had been previously employed for some time, mostly in manufacturing, construction and trade sectors. Many of them might have lost their jobs because of closure of sick units, privatization and redundancies declared by national commercial banks and public corporations.

The study has also warned that permanent employments are being substituted by contractual jobs. In small and medium cities, the employment situation for males aged 15-34 has generally deteriorated after 1996-97 for people with all level of education. There was a sharp rise in the level of unemployment among male matriculate aged 15-19 and for male aged 25-34 with intermediate level education. For degree holders, however, the unemployment remained constant between 2001-02 and 2003-04. Illiterate youth also faced an increase in joblessness.