Sri Lanka's unemployment rate for the third quarter of 2018 has taken a dip to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent a year earlier, a data released by Sri Lanka's Census and Statistics Department said here Tuesday.

However, although the unemployment rate has dipped, the data showed that female participation in the labor force continued to remain low.

The total number of unemployed persons for the third quarter was recorded at over 340,000.

Youth unemployment was the highest reported among all age groups.

Noting that female unemployment rates were higher than those of males, the Census and Statistics Department said the problem of unemployment was more acute in the case of educated females than educated males.

The survey further revealed that the estimated economically active population was approximately 8.4 million, out of the estimated 20 million population, for the third quarter of 2018.