Urban unemployment rate drops to 6.6% in Q1
Context
According to the National Sample Survey Office’s Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), which was conducted between April and June 2023, the unemployment rate in urban regions of the nation decreased.
What is the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)?
- India’s employment and unemployment figures are calculated by the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), a survey. The PLFS has two primary goals:
- to compute important indicators of employment and unemployment
- to visualize the job situation nationwide
- The PLFS gathers information on various factors, such as:
- the percentage of unemployed
- The different sorts of employment
- the salaries generated from various jobs
- The number of hours worked
- Key employment and unemployment statistics are estimated by the PLFS, including:
- WPR, or Worker Population Ratio
- Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)
- Rate of Unemployment (UR)
- The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) conducts the PLFS. The PLFS surveyed 4,28,525 persons and 1,01,782 homes in June 2022.
- The urban unemployment rate decreased to 6.8% from 7.2% in the previous quarter, according to the PLFS quarterly bulletin for January-March 2023. The WPR increased from 44.7% in the previous quarter to 45.2% in the same period.
What are the key findings of the survey?
- Urban Unemployment Rate (UR) Declines: According to the report, the urban unemployment rate is declining. When it comes to people above the age of 15, the UR dropped from 7.6% in April–June 2022 to 6.6% in April–June 2023. Specifically, it fell during this time from 7.1% to 5.9% for men and from 9.5% to 9.1% for women.
- Increase in the labour force participation rate (LFPR): For urban residents aged 15 and over, the LFPR rose from 47.5% in April to June 2022 to 48.8% in April to June 2023. During this time, both males (from 73.5% to roughly 73.5%) and women (from 20.9% to 23.2%) saw this growth.
- Worker-Population Ratio (WPR) Improvement: For those aged 15 and over, the WPR in urban areas rose from 43.9% in April–June 2022 to 45.5% in April–June 2023. During this time, it went up for men from 68.3% to 69.2% and for women from 18.9% to 21.1%.
How are the findings when compared to those of Pandemic time?
- Comparison with Pre-Pandemic Period: The study also made a comparison between these indications and what was happening from April through June of 2018 to October through December of 2019. It was discovered that the LFPR increased to 48.8% in the most recent survey from a range of 46.2% to 47.8% over that time. In a similar vein, the WPR jumped to 45.5% after being between 41.8% and 44.1% before the pandemic. Before the pandemic, the unemployment rate fluctuated between 7.8% and 9.7%; it dropped to 6.6% in the most recent poll, which is lower than the rates seen before the pandemic.
Conclusion
With declining unemployment rates, rising labour force participation rates, and better worker-population ratios, these findings point to an upward trend in urban employment in India over the study period. In comparison to the time before the epidemic, the government has touted these gains as encouraging signs for the labour economy.
