Prayagraj records over 20% unemployment rate among 46 surveyed cities with 10 lakh+ population: Report

Uttar Pradesh capital city Prayagraj and Bihar's capital city Patna have recorded unemployment rate of over 20% each, among 46 cities with population over 10 lakh, according to a report by the Hindu BusinessLine. In contrast, Ahmedabad in Gujarat and West Bengal capital city Kolkata recorded the lowest unemployment among the cohort at 2.5% each, it added.

The data was based on a Statistics Ministry report, titled ‘Labour Market Dynamics in Million-plus Cities’, which found that overall average unemployment rate across the surveyed 46 cities stands at 6.8% — in line with urban unemployment levels, as per the report.

Data was collected during a Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) during the January to December cycle last year, by surveying more than 19,000 households with some 60,000 residents over the age of 15 years in the 46 cities with population exceeding 10 lakh.

Men vs women: What do the demographics show?

The ministry report noted strong female participation in regular employment among the surveyed cities, when compared with data for urban India — 65.1% vs. 50.9%, and the female vs male number for regular wage jobs in these cities also had a margin — 65.1% vs. 56.4%.

According to the HBL report, demographics data in the current weekly status (CWS) showed female unemployment in Prayagraj stood at more than 31%, while for men was near 23%. Meanwhile, in Patna, female unemployment was recorded at more than 36%, compared to male unemployment, which stood near 18%.

The CWS approach collects data over a short seven-day period and considers one unemployed if they did not work for even one hour during the week while actively looking for a job and available to work for at least one hour.

There was no reason ascribed to the higher unemployment figures in these cities, but the report noted that both Prayagraj and Patna house large student populations (local and from other states) who are preparing for competitive exams.

In contrast it noted that Ahmedabad and Kolkata have a number of IT and IT services providers and thriving industrial neighbourhoods that could have an impact on the unemployment rate, it added.

Salary, wages: Key factors in employment patterns

The report also tracked employment patterns as follows:

• Regular wage / salary employment is much higher in the surveyed cities at 58.5% compared to urban India 47.6%.
• But casual work is at nearly half, standing at 6.3% in the surveyed cities compared to 12% across urban India.
• When it comes to reasons for not being in the labour force: 53.5% of males said they were pursuing higher education, while 38.9% citied health reasons.
• When it comes to reasons for not being in the labour force: 68.7% of women said that childcare responsibilities and homemaking accounted for not being active in the workforce.

• Wage comparison showed that workers in the 46 cities surveyed fared better than overall urban India across categories.
• It showed that surveyed self-employed earners made ₹30,858 against ₹23,013 by urban India workers.
• In wage jobs, earners surveyed in the 46 cities received ₹28,808 compared to ₹26,258 by urban Indians.
• Further, when it comes to casual labour too, earners surveyed in the 46 cities got ₹624 per day, against ₹550 by urban Indians.