<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>The number of unemployed people in Bangladesh is only three percent of the total population, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She provided the figure matter  while speaking at a programme in observance of the Great May Day at Bangabandhu International Conference Center.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She said that the unemployment rate has decreased due to the government's various initiatives for the expansion of education and jobs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We are giving free books and we are also providing technical education and vocational training to enabling youth of the country competent  for employment,” she said. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hasina said that the government has opened up the private sector on a large scale to increase employment, reports UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Today our unemployment rate is down to 3 percent Which was about 2/3 times more,” she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She also said the government has established Karmasangsthan Bank.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "> “Any youth can take loan there without collateral. They can do their own business with that and We have created that opportunity,” she said. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Briefly describing the government measures for expansion of education and employment opportunities , she said that her government is giving text books free of cost alongside arranging vocational and technical training to build skilled manpower.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">State Minister for the Labour and Employment Ministry Md Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour and Employment Ministry HM Ibrahim, Country Director of International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Bangladesh Tuomo Poutiainen, President of Bangladesh Employers' Federation Ardashir Kabir, Jatiya Sramik League president Noor Qutub Alam Mannan and Labour and Employment secretary M Mahbub Hossain also spoke.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>