37% Pakistanis lost their jobs due to COVID-19, Senate informed

ISLAMABAD: Minister of Planning and Development on Friday said that 37 per cent of Pakistanis lost their jobs due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, ARY News reported.

The pandemic has affected the country’s economy like other parts of the world.

The figures collected to know the Socioeconomic impact due to COVID-19 were revealed by the ministry during question-hour in the Senate.

The ministry said 49 per cent (27.31 million) of people belonging to the working class was affected due to COVID. 37 percent of the workforce lost their jobs and were unable to find a replacement.

The highest unemployment due to COVID-19 was reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where about 55 per cent of the working class lost their jobs or their income was reduced.

Experts watching global labour trends believe that post-COVID-19 readjustments mean that some lost jobs may never reappear as some sectors may shrink permanently and others flourish and expand.

Read more: COVID-19 SHOOK, RATTLED AND ROLLED THE GLOBAL ECONOMY IN 2020

The pandemic delivered a body blow to global trade, with export volumes dropping abruptly to their lowest in nearly a decade in March and April, last year.

The recovery since then has been led largely by China, which stands alone among major economies in seeing year-over-year growth in exports.