These states record highest and lowest unemployment rates in December

Haryana recorded the highest unemployment rate at 37.4%, while Odisha recorded the lowest at 0.9% last month. Apart from Haryana, seven more states reported double-digit unemployment rates including Delhi.

The latest data on the unemployment rate by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed that India's joblessness rate was recorded at 8.30% in December, the highest in 16 months, as compared to 8.00% in November. While the urban unemployment rate had increased to 10.09% in December from 8.96% in the previous month, the rural unemployment rate slipped to 7.44% from 7.55%, the data on the CMIE website showed.

A "Now Hiring" sign is displayed on a storefront.(AFP file)

Haryana recorded the highest unemployment rate at 37.4%, while Odisha recorded the lowest at 0.9% last month. Apart from Haryana, seven more states reported double-digit unemployment rates including the national capital.

Top five states with the highest unemployment rates in December:

Haryana	37.4
Rajasthan	28.5
Delhi	20.8
Bihar	19.1
Jharkhand	18

Top five states with the lowest unemployment rates in December:

Odisha	0.9
Gujarat	2.3
Karnataka	2.5
Meghalaya	2.7
Maharashtra	3.1

Mahesh Vyas, managing director of the CMIE, said the rise in the unemployment rate was "not as bad as it may seem,” as it came on top of a healthy increase in the labour participation rate, which shot up to 40.48% in December, the highest in 12 months, Reuters reported. "Most importantly, the employment rate has increased in December to 37.1%, which again is the highest since January 2022," he told Reuters.

The unemployment rate had declined to 7.2% compared to 7.6% in the July-September quarter, according to separate data shared by the state-run National Statistical Office (NSO), released in November, Reuters report added.