Urban unemployment rate in April-June, the first quarter of this fiscal, slid to 6.6 percent, the quarterly bulletin of Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (Mo SPI) on Monday showed. Even though the unemployment rate for urban areas, which was at the lowest level since the launch of the PLFS bulletin in 2018, nearly 14 states recorded a higher urban unemployment rate than the national average.
For males, the urban unemployment rate, based on current weekly status for persons above 15 years, declined to 5.9 percent in the April-June quarter from 6.0 percent in the previous quarter and 7.1 percent in the year-ago period. For females also, the unemployment rate eased to 9.1 percent in April-June from 9.2 percent in the previous quarter and 9.5 percent in the year-ago period. Employment of both males and females, however, increased in self-employed categories such as own account worker, helper in household enterprise.
Unemployment rate for youth for urban females in the age group 15–29 years went up to 23.4 percent in April-June from 22.9 percent in the previous quarter but fell from 23.9 percent in the year-ago period. For urban males in the 15-29 years age group, the unemployment rate went up to 15.9 percent in April-June from 15.6 percent in the previous quarter, but was lower than 17.4 percent in April-June 2022.
In the urban areas, states/Us which recorded higher than national average unemployment rate included Himachal Pradesh (13.8 percent), Rajasthan (11.7 percent), Chhattisgarh (11.2 percent), Jam mu and Kashmir (10.9 percent) and Kerala (10 percent). States/Us which posted a lower-than-national average unemployment rate were Delhi (2.7 percent), Gujarat (2.8 percent), West Bengal (4.4 percent), Bihar (6.1 percent), Maharashtra and Haryana (6.5 percent each).
The Ministry said that the key labor market indicators of Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and unemployment rates improved in urban areas in the April-June quarter for persons of age 15 years and above compared to the pre-pandemic period. “LFPR for persons of age 15 years and above in CWS ranged from 46.2 percent to 47.8 percent during the pre-pandemic period. LFPR during April-June 2023 was 48.8 percent, which is higher than the labor force participation rate observed in the quarters covered in the pre-pandemic period.”
WPR for persons of age 15 years and above in CWS ranged from 41.8 percent to 44.1 percent during the pre-pandemic period. WPR during April-June 2023 was 45.5 percent, which is higher than the worker population ratio observed in the quarters covered in the pre-pandemic period. The Unemployment Rate for persons of age 15 years and above in CWS ranged from 7.8 percent to 9.7 percent during the pre-pandemic period. The Unemployment Rate during April-June 2023 was 6.6 percent, which is lower than the unemployment rates observed in the quarters covered in the pre-pandemic period, it said.
Unemployment rate had shot up sharply during the lockdown imposed in 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic. The unemployment rate for urban females and males in 15-29 years age group stood at 36 percent and 34.3 percent, respectively, in April-June 2020.
Unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labor force. The urban unemployment PLFS is based on current weekly status approach, under which a person is considered unemployed if he/she did not work even for one hour on any day during the week but sought or was available for work at least for one hour on any day during the period. Labor force according to CWS is the number of persons either employed or unemployed on an average in a week preceding the date of survey.
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