At least 300,000 more Zimbabweans lost formal sector jobs in 2006, according to a study by the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe, an affiliate of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the country's largest union.
The think tank said Central Statistical Office figures indicated that the formal sector employed about 998,000 people as of the end of 2004. But data from the ZCTU and business associations showed only 700,000 now hold jobs in the formal sector while more than 80% of the working population is unemployed, the institute said.
However, Labor and Economic Development Research Institute Director Godfrey Kanyenze acknowledged in an interview with reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that accurate labor market data is hard to come by.