E-Paper
First quarter urban unemployment at 6.6%: Labour survey report
The survey also showed that the unemployment rate for those aged 15-29 years, the key demographic category comprising youth, came in at 16.8% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year
New Delhi: India’s unemployment rate in urban areas for persons aged 15 years and above stood at 6.6% in April–June 2024, the same level as that of the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the government’s latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released on Friday showed.
The joblessness rate in the first quarter of the current financial year, however, showed a marginal decline compared to 6.7% recorded in the preceding Jan-March 2024 period, which was a four-quarter high, the data showed.
The survey also showed that the unemployment rate for those aged 15-29 years, the key demographic category comprising youth, came in at 16.8% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, lower than the 17% registered in the preceding quarter.
Among those looking for work, men were able to find more jobs compared to women, according to the survey’s results. The unemployment rate among females aged 15 years and above was 9% in the quarter, compared to 5.8% for men.
The Union government launched the flagship PLFS in 2017 to assess labour-market movements in a country with a burgeoning job-seeking population. The PLFS issues quarterly data on key indicators but with a lag, including the country’s unemployment rate for urban areas.
According to the government’s Economic Survey 2023-24, India needs to create 7.85 million non-farm jobs every year until 2030 to absorb its growing workforce.
The quarterly surveys gauge employment based on “current weekly status,” or CWS. A reference period based on CWS means the PLFS considers a person employed if he or she had been engaged in any economic activity in the week prior to the survey.
The PLFS also publishes an annual report on employment and unemployment rates in both urban and rural areas based on both CWS and usual status (US), which is a 12-month reference period.
Among key indicators in the latest survey, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) in urban areas increased from 48.8% during April–June 2023 to 50.1% in April–June 2024. LFPR refers to the number of people working or are looking for work and helps to give a better assessment of the labour market.
The marginally lower unemployment rate in the April-June quarter came on the back of a fall in the male unemployment rate, the data released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation showed.
The worker-to-population ratio (WPR) in urban areas among persons aged 15 years and above increased from 45.5% during April–June 2023 to 46.8% in April–June 2024. The WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in a given population.
