Unemployment rate falls to 7.48% in November; labour participation rate lowest since 2016: CMIE

The unemployment rate fell close to  1 per cent in November to 7.48% from 8.45% in October 2019, according to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data. The unemployment rate which has been on an upward swing since June 2017. In the month of October this year, unemployment rate had touched a three-year high of 8.45%. In the preceding months of September and August, the unemployment rates were 7.16% and 8.19%, respectively.

CMIE data also points to decreasing labour participation rate at an all India level.  A lower labour participation rate means fewer people are willing to work. Labour participation rate has fallen to lowest-ever of 42.37% in November 2019 from 47%-48% (with an unemployment rate of 8%) in 2016 when the survey started.

Urban unemployment rate stood at 8.89% whereas the rural unemployment rate was at 6.82% during the month of November 2019. Rural unemployment displayed a sharp drop from 8.26% in October. Urban employment was at 8.84% in October, showing a slight increase.

On a quarterly basis, the unemployment rate has increased since September 2017, barring an exception in June quarter of 2018 when it showed a minor decrease. In 2017 June quarter the unemployment rate stood at 4.01% which has sequentionally increased to 7.64% in September quarter of 2019. On a quarterly basis, highest unemployment rate of 9.12% was recorded in the quarter ending June 2016. The lowest unemployment rate of 4.01% was recorded in the quarter ending June 2017.

In November 2019, top 5 states/UTs with highest unemployment rates are Goa (34.5%), Tripura (25.9%), Himachal Pradesh (23.3%), Haryana (20.7%) and Delhi (16%). Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have unemployment rates of 13.1% and 8.15%, respectively.

The states with the lowest unemployment rate in November are Puducherry (0.9%), Meghalaya (1.8%), Karnataka (2.2%), Tamil Nadu (2.5%) and Madhya Pradesh (3.6%). The survey has not covered the newly formed union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

The survey covers 43,600 households per month to enable estimation of monthly unemployment rate.

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