Unemployment rate dips to 6.6% in April-June quarter: NSSO data

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data Monday reported a decline in India’s unemployment rate in urban areas to 6.6% during April-June 2023 against 7.6% a year ago period, reported PTI.

The unemployment rate was high in April-June 2022 mainly due to the staggering impact of Covid-related restrictions in the country, the report said.

The 19th Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) noted that the unemployment rate (UR) for persons aged 15 years and above in Urban areas was 7.6% in April-June 2022. It was 6.8% in January-March 2023, 7.2% in July-September 2022 as well as October-December 2022.

The NSSO data also pointed out that the unemployment rate among females (aged 15 years and above) in urban areas declined to 9.1% in April-June 2023 against 9.5% in year ago period. It was 9.2% in January-March 2023, 9.6% October-December 2022 and 9.4% in July-September 2022.

The NSSO data further indicated that the unemployment rate in urban males dipped to 5.9% in April-June 2023 compared to 7.1% in the same quarter a year ago. It was 6% in January-March 2023, 6.5% in October-December 2022 and 6.6% in July-September 2022.

A key parameter, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) in CWS (Current Weekly Status), also stood at a four-quarter high of 48.8%, compared to 47.5% in the same quarter of the previous year. The LFPR was 48.5% in January-March 2023, 48.2% in October-December 2022 and 47.9% in July-September 2022.

“Autonomous economic activity (the private sector) has risen. All economic indicators are rather good except inflation, leading to more labour-market opportunities. That said, unemployment levels are still higher than pre-Covid levels,” the Hindustan Times quoted KR Shyam Sundar, a labour economist and adjunct professor at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon as saying.

According to analysts, India’s LFPR has been nearly stagnant largely because of the decline of women from the job market. According to the “State of Working 2023” released by the Bangalore-based Azim Premji University last month, there has been a recent rebound in the LFPR due to a rise in women’s participation in the labour force led by self-employment.

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“At the same as we celebrate the decreasing trend of unemployment, the fact that the rate of joblessness rate in still higher that what it was in the pre-Covid times makes it very important for both private and public to keep flowing,” Sundar added.

Before 2017, India did not have regular estimates of employment. The NSSO launched PLFS in April 2017. The PLFS broadly covers three key parameters related to the labour market: the joblessness rate, the LFPR and worker population ratio (WPR) for urban areas. The WPR refers to the percentage of employed persons in the population. 

The all-India WPR in urban areas increased from 43.9% in April-June 2022 to 45.5% in April-June 2023 for persons of age 15 years and above. For males, the WPR rose from 68.3% to 69.2% during this period and for females, it increased from 18.9% to 21.1%.