New Delhi:
The unemployment rate for people aged 15 and over in urban areas fell to 8.7 percent in October-December 2021 from 10.3 percent in the same quarter a year ago, a periodic labor force survey by the National Bureau of Statistics shows ( NSO).
Unemployment or unemployment rate (UR) is defined as the percentage of unemployed in the labor force.
Unemployment was high in October-December 2020, mainly due to the staggering impact of the country’s lockdown restrictions, which were imposed to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
The unemployment rate for those aged 15 and over stood at 9.8 percent in urban areas in July-September 2021, the 13th Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) found.
It also showed that the unemployment rate among women (aged 15 and older) in urban areas also fell to 10.5 percent in October-December 2021, from 13.1 percent a year ago. In July-September 2021 it was 11.6 percent.
Among men, the unemployment rate in urban areas also fell to 8.3 percent in October-December 2021, compared to 9.5 percent a year ago. In July-September 2021 it was 9.3 percent.
The employment rate in CWS (Current Week Status) in urban areas for those aged 15 years and older remained unchanged at 47.3 percent in the October-December 2021 quarter, compared to the same period a year ago. In July-September 2021 this was 46.9 percent.
Labor force refers to the proportion of the population that provides or offers labor for the pursuit of economic activities for the production of goods and services and thus includes both employed and unemployed.
NSO launched PLFS in April 2017. Based on PLFS, quarterly report is released with estimates of labor force indicators namely Unemployment Rate, Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Distribution of Workers by Broad Status in Employment and Industry of work in Current Weekly Status (CWS).
The estimates of the unemployed in CWS give an average picture of unemployment in a short period of seven days during the study period.
In the CWS approach, a person is considered unemployed if he/she has not worked even one hour on any day of the week, but has been available or looked for work for at least one hour on each day during the period.
According to CWS, the labor force is the number of employed or unemployed persons on average in a week prior to the date of the survey. LFPR is defined as the percentage of the population in the workforce.
WPR (in percent) in CWS in urban areas for those 15 years and older was 43.2 percent in October-December 2021, up from 42.4 percent in the same period a year ago. In July-September 2021 it was 42.3 percent.