Unemployment rate at 9.4% in January-March 2021: NSO survey

NSO data: Joblessness drops in urban India but higher than pre-Covid level

The unemployment rate in urban areas of the country for the people of all ages fell to 9.4 per cent in January-March 2021.

This was the lowest since the nationwide lockdown was imposed in March last year but was higher than the pre-pandemic levels of 9.1 per cent, showed the Periodic Labour Force survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The unemployment rate in January-March 2020 was at 9.1 per cent in urban areas for people of all ages, the survey showed.

Joblessness, or the unemployment rate, is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons in the labour force, which is the sum of people who are working and those who are looking for work. The rate for the current weekly status (CWS) in urban areas for persons of all ages was 10.3 per cent in October-December 2020, the survey showed.

It showed the unemployment rate among females in urban areas was 11.8 per cent in January-March 2021. It was 13.1 per cent in October-December 2020.

Among males, the rate in urban areas was 8.7 per cent in January-March 2021. It was 9.5 per cent in October-December 2020. The NSO had launched the PLFS in April 2017. On the basis of that, a quarterly bulletin is brought out and it gives estimates of labour force indicators such as the unemployment rate, the worker population ratio (WPR), the labour force participation rate (LFPR), and the distribution of workers by broad status in employment and industry of work in the CWS.

The estimates of unemployed persons in the CWS give an average picture of unemployment in seven days during the survey period.

In the CWS approach, one is considered unemployed if one did not work even for one hour on any day during the seven days but sought work or was available for it. The labour force, according to the CWS, is the number of persons either employed or unemployed in a week preceding the date of the survey.

The LFPR is defined as the percentage of population in the labour force. Nine bulletins of the PLFS corresponding to the quarters ended December 2018, March 2019, June 2019, September 2019, December 2019, March 2020, June 2020, September 2020 and December 2020 have been released. The latest bulletin is the tenth in the series.