Urban unemployment rate falls to 6.6%, lowest in 5 years, official data shows

Labour force participation rate in CWS (Current Weekly Status) in urban areas for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 48.8 per cent in April-June 2023, from 47.5 per cent in the same period a year ago.

Unemployment rate in India’s urban areas declined to 6.6 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year, the lowest in at least five years, and a hundred basis points down from 7.6 per cent recorded in April-June 2022 period, data by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) showed on Monday. 

Joblessness in urban areas also declined on a quarter-on-quarter basis. It stood at 6.8 per cent in the January-March 2023 period and 7.2 per cent in the October-December 2022 quarter. At 6.6 per cent, the rate of unemployment in Indian cities is the lowest ever recorded by the government's Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), which was launched in April 2017.

Joblessness among male in urban India declined to 5.9 per cent in the first quarter from 7.1 per cent recorded in the same period last year. Unemployment among women remains sharply higher when compared with their male counterparts. Female unemployment in urban areas stood at 9.1 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year as compared to 9.5 per cent in the same period last year.

In the January-March 2023 quarter, male unemployment stood at 6 per cent while female unemployment was recorded at 9.2 per cent.

The data is based on a survey conducted among 44,190 urban households spread over 5,639 urban frame survey blocks across the country. Persons aged 15 years and above are considered for the survey. Unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.

Labour force participation rate in urban areas for persons aged 15 years and above rose to 48.8 per cent in April-June 2023 from 47.5 per cent recorded in the same period last year. While it hovered around 73.5 per cent for males during this period, for females, it increased from 20.9 per cent in April-June 2022 to 23.2 per cent in April-June 2023 period.

Labour force participation rate or the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population, for women remains very low. Nearly one in every five women are not participating in the labour force. 

Worker population ratio (WPR) - percentage of employed persons in the population aged 15 and above - rose to 45.5 per cent in April-June 2023 period from 43.9 per centin April-June 2022. For males, it increased from 68.3 per cent in Q1 of 2022-23 to 69.2 per cent in Q1 of 2023-24. For females, it increased from 18.9 per cent to 21.1per cent during this period.

Worker population ratio for persons of age 15 years and above in current weekly status ranged from 41.8 per cent to 44.1 per cent during the pre-pandemic period. WPR during April-June 2023 was 45.5 per cent which is higher than the worker population ratio observed in the quarters covered in the pre-pandemic period, NSSO data showed.