The estimated economically active population is about 8.6 million in the first quarter 2019 of which 64.1 per-cent are males and 35.9 percent are females. The economically inactive population is about 7.7 million. Out of the economically inactive population 25.7 percent are males and 74.3 percent are females.
Male participation to the labour force is always higher than that of female.
The distribution of Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) by age group and by gender depicts high male participation compared to female in all age groups. The highest participation rate for male is reported from age group 35—39 years (97.8%), while that for female is reported from 40—44 age group (49.3%).
During first quarter of 2019, the total number of employed persons in Sri Lanka is estimated about 8.2 million. Of which, about 47.1 percent engaged in Service sector, 28.3 percent in Industries sector and 24.7 percent in Agriculture sector. Compared to 1st quarter 2018 in 1st quarter 2019 a increase in employment numbers can be observed in Service and Industry sectors. Majority of the workforce are private sector employees followed by own account workers.
Highest employment share is in service sector and this is true for both male and female, while the lowest shares are for agriculture sector. Among employed females 26.5 percent is in agriculture sector while this share is 23.7 percent for males.
The number of unemployed persons is estimated as 399,784 during the first quarter 2019. The unemployment rate for the first quarter 2019 is 4.7 per-cent.
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