India’s unemployment rate jumped to a three-month high in March to 7.8 per cent given the slump in the country’s labour market, latest data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) revealed.
As per the CMIE data released on April 1, the country’s unemployment rate spiked in December 2022 to 8.30 per cent but came down in January to 7.14 per cent before rising again in February to 7.45 per cent.
Urban joblessness remained at a high of 8.4 per cent , compared with about 7.5 per cent in rural areas, stated the CMIE data reflecting on the Indian economy. The overall rate was 7.5 per cent in February.
Fall in LFPR
“India’s labour markets deteriorated in March 2023. The unemployment rate increased from 7.5 per cent in February to 7.8 per cent in March. The effect of this is compounded by the simultaneous fall in the labour force participation rate (LFPR), which fell from 39.9 per cent to 39.8 per cent,” CMIE managing director Mahesh Vyas told PTI.
Haryana emerged as the lead state plagued with the highest unemployment at 26.8 per cent trailed closely by Rajasthan at 26.4 per cent, Jammu and Kashmir 23.1 per cent, Sikkim 20.7 per cent, Bihar 17.6 per cent and Jharkhand 17.5 per cent, the data pointed out. Unemployment was the lowest in both Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh at 0.8 per cent each followed by Puducherry at 1.5 per cent, Gujarat 1.8 per cent, Karnataka 2.3 per cent and Meghalaya and Odisha at 2.6 per cent each.