Apr 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has lost 39,700 industrial jobs and 136,000 agricultural jobs in the fourth quarter of 2009 from a year earlier but gained 56,200 service jobs, a government survey showed. There was a 16,600 nnet gain in non-farm jobs in the last quarter from a year earlier, a quarterly labour force survey of the government’s statistics office said.
But compared to the third quarter there was a loss of 104,000 non-farm jobs, with the services sector losing 112,700 jobs and industry gaining 8,600.
The data is based on a sample survey, does not include Sri Lanka’s northern province which emerged from a war last year.
Total employed in absolute terms fell 120,100 to 7.59 million in the fourth quarter from 77.1 million a year earlier. Compared to the third quarter the total employed fell 48,800 to from 7.64 million.
The unemployment rate in the fourth quarter was estimated at 5.7 percent (5.9 percent in the third quarter) or 458,000 persons. 
The statistics office also said that economic growth picked up pace to 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter from 4.2 percent in the third quarter ending the ye