Dhaka, Sept. 19 -- Unemployment in Bangladesh has long been treated as a silent shadow, an afterthought buried beneath the triumphant claims of growth and development. Yet the shadow is lengthening, threatening to eclipse not only the nation's economy but also its fragile social fabric.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) claims that only 2.62 million people are unemployed in a country of 180 million.

On paper, the problem looks manageable. In reality, the crisis is far deeper, more corrosive, and more dangerous than these carefully polished numbers suggest.

A closer look at the Labor Force Survey 2024 reveals an uncomfortable truth. The number of unemployed has grown by 160,000 in a year, climbing to 262,000 at the end of 2024 f...