Collapse in farm jobs reason behind rising unemployment, shows NSSO data

In 2017-18, only 39.7 per cent of rural men and 17.4 per cent of rural men in the working age were employed in agriculture

Various opinion polls conducted recently show how better job opportunities will remain a key issue in the voters’ mind in the upcoming general elections.

But what is causing this jobs crisis? A careful examination of the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO’s) periodic labour force survey (PLFS) report showed a collapse in agricultural jobs as a key reason behind rising unemployment, particularly in the rural parts of the country. 

The proportion of people, in the working age group, employed in agriculture fell by 8 percentage points for rural men and 9.3 percentage points for rural women, an analysis of the NSSO’s