India’s unemployment rate declined to 6.6% in urban areas in the first (April-June) quarter of this fiscal.
The quarterly bulletin of PLFS released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 09 October, 2023 showed this.
The unemployment rate for urban areas was at the lowest level since the launch of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) bulletin in 2018.
The urban unemployment rate, based on the current weekly status for persons above 15 years for males decreased to 5.9% in the April-June quarter from 6.0% in the previous quarter and 7.1% in the year-ago period.
In the case of females, this rate declined to 9.1% in April-June from 9.2% in the previous quarter and 9.5% in the year-ago period.
Employment of males and females increased in self-employed categories like helper in household enterprise.
In the case of youth for urban females in the age group 15-29 years, the unemployment rate increased to 23.4% in April-June from 22.9% in the previous quarter.
In the case of urban males in the 15-29 years age group, the unemployment rate increased to 15.9% in April-June from 15.6% in the previous quarter.
About 14 states/UTs have shown a higher urban unemployment rate than the national average.
These states/UTs include Himachal Pradesh (13.8%), Rajasthan (11.7%), Chhattisgarh (11.2%), Jammu and Kashmir (10.9%) and Kerala (10%).
Delhi (2.7%), Gujarat (2.8%), West Bengal (4.4%), and Bihar (6.1%) are states/UTs which recorded a lower than national average unemployment rate.
A sharp increase was seen in the unemployment rate during the lockdown in 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic.
The unemployment rate for urban females in the 15-29 years age group stood at 36% in April-June 2020.
The unemployment rate for urban males in the 15-29 years age group stood at 34.3% in April-June 2020.
The key labour market indicators are Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and unemployment rates.
All key indicators improved in urban areas in the April-June quarter for persons aged 15 years and above compared to the pre-pandemic period.
LFPR during April-June 2023 was 48.8%. This is higher than the LFPR observed in the quarters covered in the pre-pandemic period.
WPR during April-June 2023 was 45.5%. This is higher than the WPR observed in the quarters covered in the pre-pandemic period.
