New Delhi April 21: Job opportunities across the country grew at an estimated rate of 2.62 per cent every year, the latest quinquennial analysis by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) showed.

The growth of unemployed, at 5.42 per cent per annum, outnumbered the rate of job creation during the survey period between 1999-2000 and 2004-05, Minister of State for Labour Oscar Fernandes told the Lok Sabha.

The Eleventh Plan document has projected that about 58 million employment opportunities on Current Daily Status basis are likely to be generated during the five year period.

During the 11th Plan period the number of unemployed persons are likely to decrease from 34.74 million in 2004-05 to 23.35 million in 2011-12, Fernandes said.

The NSSO gives estimates of employment and unemployment through quinquennial (once every five years) labour force surveys. The last such survey was conducted during 2004-05.

Unemployment rate was found to be maximum in qualified graduates in rural and urban parts of the country.

The unemployment rate was 36.3 per cent in rural women as against 30.4 per cent among their urban counterparts in the age group 15-29 years during 2004-05.

Unemployment rate was 18.5 per cent among male graduates in urban parts as compared to 15.7 per cent in rural areas.