Weekly unemployment rate jumps to 9.9%; records 23-week high: CMIE

India's unemployment rate jumped to 9.90 per cent in the week ending December 13, recording a 23-week high, latest weekly data from CMIE said. It's a sharp reversal from the trend of a decreasing unemployment rate in the preceding weeks. The joblessness rate in the week ending December 6 was 8.43 per cent.

The data released by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) says rural unemployment jumped to 9.11 per cent from 8.56 per cent in the week ending December 6, while urban unemployment climbed to 11.62 per cent from 8.15 per cent in the previous week.

In terms of weekly unemployment numbers, the week ending December 13 saw the highest joblessness rates after the week ended 14 June.

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The country had opened up after two months of strict lockdown in June and many areas were still under restrictions. In the week ended 14 June, the joblessness rate was 11.63 per cent, including 13.1 per cent urban and 10.96 per cent rural.

India's unemployment rate for the month of November 2020 stood at 6.51 per cent, the lowest since September 2018 when it was 6.47 per cent.

An economist at CMIE had earlier said the unlock process that began in June 2020 helped Indian economy regain some of its lost ground in September quarter as the GDP reached the December 2017 quarter levels.

Also read: Employment contracts by 2.4% in November: CMIE

Notably, India's real gross domestic product (GDP) regained Rs 6.2 lakh crore of GDP it lost amid the lockdown to Rs 33.1 lakh crore in Q2 FY21.

"While the Indian economy has bounced back strongly in the September 2020 quarter from its June 2020 quarter slump, the road ahead is challenging,"  Manasi Swamy, an economist at CMIE, said. The think tank believes the improvement in GDP in the September quarter over the last quarter was led by private consumption and investment demand.

Also read: CMIE sees signs of recovery in Indian economy; says 'challenging road ahead'