Biti drops a shocker- says unemployment is only 9%

Finance Minister Tendai Biti dropped a bombshell yesterday when he said Zimbabwe’s unemployment was only 9 percent and not the 85 percent that has been bandied about for years.

“We have always had this argument about what is the percentage of people that are employed or unemployed in Zimbabwe. Textbook economists will say 85 percent but that is not true. If we had a population like that (unemployed) most people in Zimbabwe would have died, it is not possible,” he was quoted by the national news agency, Ziana, as saying.

Biti was speaking at the launch of the Poverty Income Consumption and Expenditure Survey 2011/12 Report by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency.

The report which was based on a survey of 31 248 households said only 7.7 percent of the economically active people were unemployed.

“One is either a farmer, selling juice cards, driving an emergency taxi or you are working as a hair dresser. The fact of the matter is most people are economically active,” Biti said.

According to the PICES report, 15.2 percent of the population was in paid permanent employment, 7 percent of them in rural areas and 34.3 percent in urban areas.

Harare and Bulawayo had the highest unemployment rates of 24.6 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

Those in paid casual employment constituted 8.6 percent with 4.5 percent in rural areas and 18.2 percent in urban areas.

Farming employed 43.6 percent, the bulk of them, 61.6 percent, in rural areas.

The survey said that at least 3.7 million Zimbabweans are involved in informal sector activities and generated about $1.7 billion a year.

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