Unemployment rate declines to 3.2%, job & skill creation top priority: Economic Survey

The labour market indicators have improved in the last six years, with the unemployment rate declining to 3.2 per cent in 2022-23, the Economic Survey 2023-2024 said on Monday.

India's workforce is estimated to be nearly 56.5 crore, of which more than 45 per cent are employed in agriculture, 11.4 per cent in manufacturing, 28.9 per cent in services, and 13 per cent in construction.

The Indian economy needs to generate nearly 78.51 lakh jobs annually in the non-farm sector to cater to the rising workforce, the Survey projected.

“The government has implemented measures to boost employment, foster self-employment, and promote worker welfare. 

Rising youth and female participation in the workforce presents an opportunity to tap the demographic and gender dividend,” according to the Survey tabled in Parliament ahead of the Union Budget 2024-2025.

While the services sector remains a major job creator, the construction sector has been rising in prominence lately, driven by the government's push for infrastructure.

“However, since construction jobs are largely informal and low-paid, there is a need for avenues for the labour force leaving agriculture,” the Survey suggested.

According to UN population projections, India's working-age population (15-59 years) will continue to grow until 2044.

Estimates show that about 51.25 per cent of the youth is deemed employable.“In other words, about one in two are not yet readily employable, straight out of college. However, it must be noted that the percentage has improved from around 34 per cent to 51.3 per cent in the last decade,” the Survey noted.

The rise in the number of candidates undergoing skill development through the government's flagship programmes has underlined the thrust to 'Skill India'.

According to the Survey, key areas of policy focus in the short to medium term include job and skill creation, tapping the full potential of the agriculture sector, addressing MSME bottlenecks, managing India's green transition, deftly dealing with the Chinese conundrum, deepening the corporate bond market and tackling inequality and improving our young population's quality of health.