“At that point, with the Zambian economy having experienced impressive growth rates over a long period of time, the central question was how to ensure job rich growth. Soon after the project’s launch however, the Zambian economy took a turn for the worse. The economic context has deteriorated substantially. Little is known, however, about the impact of the economic slowdown on jobs and the labour market. This is because other than the Labour Force Survey there is no official labour market data in Zambia. This represents a major gap in knowledge. Not understanding how the slowdown is affecting the labour market makes it harder for the government to develop effective policy responses. The project will develop an understanding of Zambia’s jobs challenge and policy options for how to respond. It aims at addressing both the underlying long-term challenge of how to create more and better jobs and also the short-term challenge of protecting jobs during the current economic slowdown.”
