BPR 2024: India’s Unemployment Rate At 3.2%, Lowest In Five Years

India’s unemployment rate remained steady at 3.2% between July 2023 and June 2024, thus temporarily halting the five-year run of declining joblessness. According to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Data revealed an important issue for the economy, where it is struggling to create sufficient employment despite its growing labour force in urban as well as rural areas.

The LFPR for those aged 15 years or more had increased to 60.1% during 2023-24 from 57.9% recorded during the last year. Most importantly, LFPR among females had improved sharply to 41.7% from 37.0%, while among males it had edged up slightly to 78.8% from 78.5%.

The survey covered over 1.02 lakh households and 4.18 lakh individuals across rural and urban India, providing a comprehensive view of the labour market.

Unemployment Trends Uneven

Male unemployment decreased slightly from 3.3% to 3.2%, while female unemployment increased by a percentage point for the first time in seven years, to reach 3.2% in 2023-24. Rural unemployment increased by a percent to 2.5%, whereas urban unemployment declined slightly by about one percent from 5.4% to 5.1%.

For the educated, 15 years and above, unemployment was significantly higher at 7.1%, with the urban areas having a rate of 7.9% compared to 6.5% in rural areas. Youth unemployment aged 15-29 remained a concern at 10.2%. The unemployment of female youth in urban areas was the highest at 20.1%, while that of male youth in urban areas was 12.8%. Male youth in rural areas had an unemployment rate of 8.7%, while female youth had 8.2%.

Worker-Population Ratio

The Worker-Population Ratio (WPR) for individuals aged 15 and above rose to 58.2% in 2023-24 from 56% the previous year, largely due to increased female workforce participation.

Agriculture continued to dominate employment, accounting for 46.1% of the workforce. Other key sectors included trade, hotels, and restaurants (12.2%), construction (12%), and other services (11.9%).

State-Wise Unemployment Variations

Among India’s 36 states and union territories, 61% reported unemployment rates above the national average. Lakshadweep recorded the highest unemployment at 11.9%, while Madhya Pradesh reported the lowest at just 1%.

As India navigates its labour market challenges, the stagnation of the unemployment rate signals the need for robust policy interventions to spur job creation and sustain economic growth.

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