Highest employment share is in service sector and this is true for both male & female, while the lowest shares are for industry sector, the Department revealed.  Among employed females 30.9 percent is in agriculture sector while this share is 25.5 percent for males.

According to the released statistics the estimated economically active population is about 9.0 million in the third quarter 2015. Of which 64.5 percent are males and 35.5 percent are females. Out of the economically inactive population 25.4 percent are males and 74.6 percent are females. The working age for Sri Lanka is defined as 15 years and above. Among the total working age population who are employed or unemployed during the reference week is identified as the economically active population. 

It is also important to note that, male participation to the labour force is always higher than that of females. The distribution of Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) by age group and by gender depicts high male participation compared to female in all age groups. The highest participation rate for male was reported from age group 35—39 years (97.4%), while that for females was reported from the age group of 40–44 years (50.8%).

The number of unemployed persons is estimated as of 453,956 during the third quarter 2015. The unemployment rate for the third quarter 2015 is 5.0 percent.