Confusion over Zim unemployment

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JUST what is Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate?

JUST what is Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate?

Chief Reporter

This could be one of the mysteries of this generation, as the figures range from an unbelievable 5,42% to an astronomical 95%.

The United Nation’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) has claimed Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is 5,42%, possibly one of the lowest on the continent.

It said overall, male unemployment was 4,7 % in 2013 down from 5,1%  in 2007 6,3% for females and 13% for youths.

But wait, before popping the champagne bottles, most African countries, including Zimbabwe, count subsistence farming as employment.

The definition of employment in the ILO regulations does not cover subsistence farming, but considers self-employment as a form of employment, making the definition slightly murky.

What makes ILO’s figures more astounding is that South Africa, the biggest economy in the region by a mile, reports that it has an unemployment rate of more than 20%.

With Zimbabweans flocking to South Africa in search of jobs, it does not make sense why they are going to a country with a bigger unemployment problem than theirs.

But to add confusion on the matter, the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (Zimstat) estimates that the country’s unemployment rate is 10,7%.

While the Zimstat figure is above the ILO one, it was roundly criticised as being a gross underestimation  of Zimbabwe’s unemployment problem.

Zimstat last carried out an employment survey four years ago. With Zimbabwe’s adult population at an estimated six million, ILO estimate that only about 325 000 people are unemployed.

ILO predicts the county’s unemployment rate will stay around 5,4 % until at least 2016.

Small and Medium Enterprise and Co-operative Development minister Sithembiso Nyoni told Parliament that about 5,7 million people work in the informal sector.

On the other hand, by November last year, 5 600 people had been retrenched, with the Retrenchment Board estimating that more were likely to lose their jobs. Economic analysts and the World Economic Forum have put Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate at more than 80%.

With the country needing accurate statistics to implement policies, it means the government will have to rely on unverified figures and that may lead it astray.