Unemployment Rate in India: Jobless rate cooled to 9.8% in September quarter of 2021 as curbs eased | India Business News

NEW DELHI: The unemployment rate in urban areas in the 15 year and above age group slowed to 9.8% in the July- September quarter of 2021, moderating from the double digit in the previous three months period as the curbs imposed during the Covid-19 wave were eased and economic activity gathered momentum, data showed on Tuesday.
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for the September quarter of 2021 also showed that the labour force participation rate (LFPR) improved marginally to 46.9% from 46.8% in the April-June quarter. The LFPR for males also improved to 73.5% from 73.1% in the June quarter.
However, the LFPR for women during the September quarter of 2021 slowed to 19.9% from 20.1% in the previous quarter. In July-September 2020, the LFPR for females was at 20.3%. The LFPR refers to the percentage of persons in the labour force (working or seeking or available for work) in the population. The unemployment rate for males during the September quarter of 2021 slowed to 9.3% from 12.2% in the April-June quarter. The rate also slowed for females to 11.6% in the July-September period from 14.3%.

The data for the April-June quarter of 2021 which was released earlier this month had shown that the joblessness rate had shot upto double digit levels at 12.6% from 9.3% in the January-March quarter due to the impact of the second Covid-19 wave. The data had triggered worries about the job situation in India.
However, the July-September 2021 quarter data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) is likely to ease some of the worries due to the improving situation with regard to jobs as the pandemic wanes. The worker participation rate, defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population, also improved to 42.3% in the September quarter of 2021 from 40.9% in the April-June quarter. For men it rose to 66.6% from 64.2% in the June quarter while for women it was marginally up at 17.6% from 17.2% in the April-June quarter of 2021.
The PLFS was launched by the NSO to estimate the employment and unemployment indicators (worker population ratio, labour force participation rate, unemployment rate) in the short time interval of three months for urban areas only in the current weekly status (CWS) . Under CWS a person is considered as unemployed in a week if he/she did not work even for one hour on any day during the reference week but sought or was available for work at least for one hour on any day during the reference week, as per the PLFS.