New Delhi: According to the data released by the government today, over half of the country''s population was reeling under unemployment during 2004-05.

According to the data, only about 42 per cent of the population in the country was "usually employed" during the year.

Urban India accounted for the most number of people without proper work, the data noted.

Interestingly, the unemployment rate among the educated was higher than among those whose education level was below the secondary level, leaving almost 58 per cent of the population without employment.

Rural areas accounted for 44 per cent finding employment while urban India provided employment for only 37 per cent of its population.

In urban India, the ''trade, hotel and restaurant'' sector employed about 28 per cent of male workers while, ''manufacturing'' and ''services'' sectors accounted for nearly 24 and 21 per cent respectively of the usually employed males.

On the other hand, for urban women, the ''services'' sector accounted for the highest proportion of jobs at 36 per cent of the total usually employed, followed by 28 per cent in ''manufacturing'' and 18 per cent in ''agriculture''.

The unemployment rate, which denotes the number of people unemployed out of every 1,000 people in the labour force, was 17 in the rural areas and 45 in the urban locations.

The unemployment rate for women was higher than for men, and was the highest among urban women.

About 4 per cent of the rural households and 8 per cent of the urban households had no usually employed member.