India's Unemployment Rate Hits Highest Level In Two-And-A-Half Years: Think-Tank CMIE

Unemployment in India averaged at 8.1 per cent in the first three weeks of April, think-tank CMIE or the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has said. The rate of unemployment in the country stood at 7.9 per cent in the first, 8.1 per cent in the second, and 8.4 per cent in the third week of the month, CMIE said in a statement dated April 23 citing the findings of its household survey. It also noted that the unemployment rate in the country has hit the highest level in the last two and half years.

"Each of these is higher than the unemployment rate in the weeks of March," CMIE said in its statement.

"It is, therefore, very likely that the month of April will end with an unemployment rate that would be much higher than the 6.7 per cent of March 2019," added in its statement.

According to CMIE, the overall unemployment rate as of April 25 is 7.5 per cent across India. The data also shows that the unemployment rate in the urban parts of the country is at 7.6 per cent, and it stands at 7.5 per cent in the rural regions.

In the month of March, the weekly estimates of the unemployment rate stood at 6.9 per cent in the first week and 7 per cent in the second week. It further fell in the last two weeks of the month to 6.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively.

The labour force participation rate has, on the other hand, touched a recent peak of 44.3 per cent in the week of April 14, the highest since February 25, 2018.

An increase in the labour participation rate indicates that a greater proportion of the adult population is seeking jobs, according to CMIE. The average labour force participation rate in the first three weeks of April 2019 was 43.5 per cent, compared to 42.3 per cent in the first three weeks of March 2019.