The explosion of unemployment

Every day thousands of Pakistanis are losing jobs as the ongoing economic crisis deepens further. Just how many millions will become jobless in 2023? Nobody can say for sure. But let’s rephrase the question: What will be the total number of unemployed people by the end of this year, including those that couldn’t find work even before 2023? Estimates vary. But given the current pace of business closures, temporary shutdowns, and planned reduction in industries’ outputs, around 6.205 million people or 8.5 per cent of the total workforce of 73m may remain unemployed during this year. If the actual rate of unemployment turns out to be greater, the number of people who can take up jobs but cannot find ones will be even higher. The government is set to present a growth-constraining mini-budget shortly to pave the way for the much-needed revival of International Monetary Fund (IMF) lending. The measures to be announced in that mini budget (like increase in gas and electricity prices, imposition of an additional levy on petroleum products, increase in withholding taxes on property and hiking of sales tax on goods on import and wholesale stages) will fuel “stagflation”.