Unemployment rate dips to 6.6% in September quarter: Govt Survey

The unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above in urban areas declined to 6.6 per cent in the September quarter from 7.2 per cent a year ago, as per the National Sample Survey Survey (NSSO).

Joblessness, or unemployment rate, is defined as the percentage of unemployed people in the labour force. Joblessness was high in the July-September period, mainly due to the staggering impact of Covid-related restrictions in the country.

The unemployment rate in the March quarter of the previous fiscal was 6.8 per cent, while it was 6.6 per cent in April-June. The rate was 7.2 per cent in the third quarter of the previous fiscal.

The unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above in July-September 2022 was 7.2 per cent in urban areas, the 20th Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed.

It also showed that the unemployment rate among females (aged 15 years and above) in urban areas declined to 8.6 per cent in July-September from 9.4 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.

It was 9.1 per cent in April-June, 9.2 per cent in January-March and 9.6 per cent in October-December 2022.

Among males, the unemployment rate in urban areas dipped to six per cent in July-September compared to 6.6 per cent in the year-ago period. It was 5.9 per cent in April-June 2023, 6 per cent in January-March 2023 and 6.5 per cent in October-December 2022.

Labour force participation rate in Current Weekly Status (CWS) in urban areas for people aged 15 years and above increased to 49.3 per cent in the July-September quarter of 2023, from 47.9 per cent in the same period a year ago. It was 48.8 per cent in April-June 2023, 48.5 per cent in January-March 2023 and 48.2 per cent in October-December 2022.

Labour force refers to the part of the population, which supplies or offers to supply labour for pursuing economic activities for the production of goods and services and, therefore, includes both employed and unemployed persons. The NSSO launched PLFS in April 2017.

On the basis of PLFS, a quarterly bulletin is brought out giving estimates of labour force indicators namely unemployment rate, Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), distribution of workers by broad status in employment and industry of work in CWS.

The estimates of unemployed persons in CWS give an average picture of unemployment in a short span of seven days during the survey period.

In the CWS approach, 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.

Labour force, according to CWS, is the number of persons either employed or unemployed on average in a week preceding the date of the survey. LFPR is defined as the percentage of the population in the labour force.

The WPR (in per cent) in CWS in urban areas for people aged 15 years and above stood at 46 per cent in July-September 2023, up from 44.5 per cent in the same period a year ago.

It was 45.5 per cent in April-June, 45.2 per cent in January-March and 44.7 per cent in October-December, 2022. The present Quarterly Bulletin is the 20th in the series for the September quarter.

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