Unemployment rate drops to 7.2% in October-December 2022: Report

Joblessness or unemployment was high in October-December 2021 mainly due to the staggering impact of Covid-related restrictions in the country. However, the unemployment rate (UR) in the July-September 2022 was also 7.2% only.

The 17th Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed that the UR for persons aged 15 years and above in April-June was 7.6% last year in urban areas. In January-March 2022, the UR was 8.2%, PTI reported.

It also showed that the unemployment rate among females (aged 15 years and above) in urban areas declined to 9.6% in October-December 2022 from 10.5% a year ago. It was 9.4% in July-September 2022, 9.5% in April-June 2022 and 10.1% in January-March 2022.

Among males, the unemployment rate in urban areas dipped to 6.5% in October-December 2022 compared to 8.3% a year ago. It was 6.6% in July-September 2022, 7.1% in April-June 2022 and 7.7% in January-March 2022.

The estimates of unemployed persons in CWS give an average picture of unemployment in a short period of seven days during the survey period. In the CWS approach, a person is considered unemployed if he/she did not work even for one hour on any day during the week but sought or was available for work at least for one hour on any day during the period.

Labour force, according to CWS, is the number of persons either employed or unemployed on average in a week preceding the date of the survey. LFPR is defined as the percentage of the population in the labour force, as per PTI reports.

The WPR (in per cent) in CWS in urban areas for persons aged 15 years and above stood at 44.7% in October-December 2022, up from 43.2% in the same period a year ago. It was 44.5% in July-September 2022 and 43.9% in April-June, 2022.

The present quarterly bulletin is the seventeenth in the series for the quarter October–December 2022.

(With PTI inputs)