Urban youth unemployment rate up in 4 states and 2 UTs: PLFS data

On the other hand, the unemployment rate among urban youth declined in five major states. These are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Kerala

At a time when national unemployment rate among urban youth is coming down in FY25, six states and Union Territories (UTs) have seen a sequential rise between Q1 and Q3 of the financial year, according to an analysis of the latest quarterly periodic labour force survey (PLFS) data. 

These are Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Delhi.  

In Assam, unemployment rate among urban youth was the highest at 27.5 per cent in Q3 up from 23.9 per cent in Q1, followed by Bihar (26.4 per cent from 20.8 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (15 per cent from 11.2 per cent), and Haryana (12.9 per cent from 11.2 per cent) for the comparable period. 

In Jammu & Kashmir, urban joblessness stood at 35.3 per cent in Q3, up from 29.8 per cent in Q1, while in Delhi it rose to 4.9 per cent from 3.7 per cent in the same period.      

On the contrary, the unemployment rate among urban youth declined in five states — Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Kerala. 

 

Kerala’s unemployment rate among urban youth stood at 24.9 per cent in Q3 against 27.7 per cent in Q1, followed by Chhattisgarh (20.3 per cent from 23.3 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (16.8 per cent from 19.2 per cent), Maharashtra (12.2 per cent from 15.1 per cent), and Gujarat (8.2 per cent from 8.3 per cent). 

Ronak Pol, Team Lead at Foundation for Economic Development noted that states like Assam continue to attract investment in high-end manufacturing sectors such as semiconductors, there is a need to prioritise industries that generate large-scale employment.  

“A thriving manufacturing base will provide young Indians with the economic security and upward mobility essential for sustained growth and prosperity”, he said. 

According to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) study last year, youth account for almost 83 per cent of the unemployed workforce in the country, with the share of youngsters with secondary or higher education almost doubling from 35.2 per cent in the year 2000 to 65.7 per cent in 2022.  

Considering low sample sizes for giving estimates at different levels of disaggregation, the quarterly PLFS survey does not present data for Goa, north eastern states barring Assam and other UTs like Chandigarh, Puducherry, Daman & Diu, Ladakh, Andaman & Nicobar, and Lakshadweep.