More than a million people may have lost their jobs in Pakistan as a result of the devastating earthquake there, the International Labour Organisation said on Monday. The October 8 disaster compounded the grinding poverty that was already the daily lot of many people in Azad Kashmir and North West Frontier Province, the ILO said.
Prior to the earthquake, each employed person in the region also supported at least two additional dependants, leaving more than two million affected by the economic impact of the disaster, it said. The UN labour agency noted that an initial assessment conducted in the wake of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake showed it had destroyed most infrastructure and shops in affected towns in the region.
The earthquake also caused heavy loss of livestock and agricultural implements, which are the mainstay in many rural areas.
The hardest hit areas are among the poorest in Pakistan, with millions of people living on less than two dollars a day even before the disaster, said the ILO.
"By losing their employment, even for a short period of time, workers in the affected districts have likely already fallen into extreme poverty," said ILO chief Juan Somavia. Pakistan said Monday that 41,000 people were confirmed dead and another 67,000 injured in the disaster. Around 2.5 million were left homeless.
India has said more than 1,300 people died in its part of divided Kashmir.