By Own Correspondent

THE 2021 fourth quarter Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) has established that 80 percent of employed Zimbabweans are earning $20 000 and below in monthly salaries.

The survey established that 29 percent of the employed population was in the formal sector while 46 percent were in the informal sector.

“Of those in employment 20% and 4% were in the agriculture and household sectors, respectively. Eighty-six percent of the employed population were informally employed. Eighty percent of the employed persons earned income of RTGS$20,000 and below during the month of October 2021,” the report said.

The QLFS also placed the working age population at an estimated 9 million constituting 59 percent of the total population. The total labour force obtained from the survey was 3,8 million giving a total Labour Force Participation Rate of 42 percent.

“Around three million of the working age population were currently employed. The national Employment to Population Ratio (EPR) stood at 34%. Harare had the highest proportion of the employed population at around 26% followed by Mashonaland East at 12%. Matabeleland North with 3% had the least proportion,” the QLFS said.

The wholesale trade; retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles industry had the largest proportion of the employed population at 27% followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing with 20 percent.

The survey established that 20% of persons 15 years and above were unemployed. Among males the rate was 19% while for females it was 22%.

Matabeleland North province had the highest unemployment rate of 27 percent. The age groups (15-19) years and (20-24) years had the highest unemployment rates of 35 percent, respectively, followed by those aged (25-29) years at 27 %.

Youth (15-24) years had a national unemployment rate of 35 percent. The national unemployment rate for youth (15-34) years was 28 percent. Unemployment rate was highest among those who had completed upper secondary at 25 percent followed by those with lower secondary at 22%.

The expanded national unemployment rate for persons 15 years and above was 47%. It was higher for females at 51% than males with 44 percent. Matabeleland North had the highest expanded unemployment rate of 59%.

The age group (15-19) years had the highest expanded unemployment rate of 68%.

Youths (15-24) years had a national expanded unemployment rate of 65 percent while the national expanded unemployment rate for youths (15-34) years was 56%.

The expanded unemployment rate was higher among those staying in the rural areas at 53% than those in urban area at 40%.

Other key highlights of the reports stated that:

• Total number of employed persons was estimated at 3.0 million.
• Unemployment rate using the strict definition was estimated at 20 percent.
• Expanded unemployment rate was estimated at 47 percent.
• Share of formal (non-agriculture) sector employment was estimated at 30 percent.
• Share of employment in the informal (non-agriculture) sector was estimated at 46 percent.
• Share of employment in the household sector was estimated at 4 percent.
• Share of employment in the agriculture sector was estimated at 20 percent.