SOCIALIST PARTY DISMISSES ZAMSTATS LABOUR FORCE SURVEY
By Lukundo Nankamba
The Opposition Socialist Party says the Zambia Statistics Agency-Zamstats Labour Force Survey is not reflective of the country’s status quo as no major industries have absorbed the 0.6 percent decrease in unemployment rate.
The latest 2023 Labour Force Survey by Zamstats has revealed that unemployment rate in Zambia has slightly declined from 12.6 percent to 12 percent.
But Socialist Party National Youth Chairman Kelvin Kaunda notes that in the wake of the energy crisis, most companies have suffered severe losses and this has resulted in the downsizing of their workforce.
Mr. Kaunda further explains that the survey is not factual, especially that more people have lost jobs due to technological advancement which has disrupted traditional employment, and may require interventions by government to ensure workers are equipped with skills to thrive in the ever-changing environment.
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Political failures are attacking a vital institution of governance. Zamstats is a professional body which is non political and it’s information helps in shaping national development. Soon Kaunda will also dispute the national population and demographic data. it would have been better for Kaunda to visit ZAMSTATS offices and be educated on the basis of this vital data rather than fighting a professional body. He should know that his opponents are the UPND and not ZAMSTATS.
There is really no harm to question statistics especially in a country like ours. You cannot do that in developed countries. For example what was the net effect of the job losses due to load shedding? Did we have a positive/negative net effective on jon creation/losses? What was the methodology used? Do we as a country merticulously record ALL job creation and losses? What about the subterrenean economy, do we have measures to record what happens here?