According to a report by the National Sample Survey (NSSO), the unemployment rate (UR) for people over the age of 15 in urban areas has dipped to 7.2% in 2022 from 8.7% the previous year during the months from October to December. The report stated that 2021 saw higher rates of joblessness due to the economic downturn from the Covid19 lockdown and other restrictions. The period from July-September in 2022 also saw the UR remaining steady at 7.2%
The 17th Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) found that the UR for people in the same age bracket and area stood marginally higher at 7.6% from April-June in 2022. However, the first quarter of 2022 – January-March – the UR peaked at 8.2%.
According to the survey, 9.6% of females over the age of 15 in urban areas faced joblessness in October-December 2022. This is a slight fall from 10.5% in 2021. The category faced the highest rate of unemployment at 10.1% in 2022 during the months from January-March. It later fell to 9.5% in April-June and 9.4% in July-September the same year.
Males in urban areas faced comparatively lesser rates of unemployment as the October-December period in 2022 saw 6.5% per cent joblessness. In 2021, the numbers were 8.3% in the same period. January-March in 2022 saw a high of 7.7% unemployment rate, which slumped to 7.1% in April-June and 6.6% in July-September.
The percentage of jobless individuals in the labour force is defined as the unemployment rate. Labour force participation rate (LFPR) in CWS (Current Weekly Status) in urban areas for persons aged 15 years and above rose to 48.2 per cent in October-December 2022 from 47.3 per cent in 2021. Numbers were slightly lesser in the other quarters of 2022 at 47.9 per cent in July-September and 47.5 per cent in April-June.
Under CWS approach, an unemployed individual is one who did not work even for one hour on any day of the week but was seeking a job for at least one hour in the same period. LFPR is the percentage of population in the labour force.
(With inputs from PTI)