The unemployment rate in India was at 7.2 percent in February 2019, the highest since September 2016, according to data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) that was released on Tuesday, 5 March, Reuters reported. The rate was at 5.9 percent in February 2018.
The survey is based on tens of thousands of households across India.
Mahesh Vyas, head of the think tank told Reuters that unemployment rate has risen despite a fall in the number of job seekers. He also said that the number of employed persons in India was estimated at 400 million in February compared with 406 million last year.
The Narendra Modi government has been criticised by the Opposition over rising unemployment in the country, a claim that has been rebutted by the ruling party.
According to the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO), India’s unemployment rate was at a 45-year high of 6.1 percent during 2017-18, according to the periodic labour force survey (PLFS), reported Business Standard.
The unemployment rate in India was at its highest in 2017-18 since 1972-73, the period since data about jobs is comparable, Business Standard said, quoting documents they had accessed.
The NSSO survey reportedly showed that at 7.8 percent, joblessness is higher in the urban areas of the country than in rural parts, where it was 5.3 percent. Among urban males aged between 15 and 29, unemployment stood at 18.7 percent, as opposed to 8.1 in 2011-12. Among urban females, it was 27.2 percent in 2017-18; it was 13.1 percent in 2011-12, reported Business Standard.
(With inputs from Reuters and Business Standard)
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