News Excerpt:

As per the new data released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), India’s unemployment rate has dropped to 3.1% in 2023 from 3.6% in 2022.

More about the news:

• The data was part of the employment-unemployment indicators report (Periodic Labour Force Survey) released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
• Usually, the annual Periodic Labour Force Survey by the NSO collects data related to employment and unemployment status in the country between July and June.
• In the latest NSSO report, the labour force indicators for a calendar year have been obtained by combining the data of four quarters of the calendar year

Findings of the survey:

• A significant reason for the decline in the unemployment rate was the decline in urban unemployment. 
• Urban unemployment declined to 5.2% in 2023 compared with 5.9% in the previous year. 
• Rural unemployment was down 2.4% from 2.8% earlier.
• The latest survey also showed that the labour force participation rate (LFPR) increased significantly to 59.8% in 2023 from 56.1% in 2022 at the national level.
• The rural LFPR stood at 63.4% in 2023, significantly up from 58.5% in 2022, whereas its urban LFPR rose to 51.4% from 50% in the corresponding period.

Male-Female Labour Force Participation:

• The male-female gap in unemployment increased according to annual PLFS.
• Female unemployment declined slower than male unemployment.
• Despite female labour force participation rising to 41.3% in 2023 from 33.9% earlier, unemployment decreased to 3% from 3.3% earlier. 
• In contrast, male unemployment declined to 3.2% from 3.7% in urban areas.
• In both rural and urban areas, the decline in female unemployment was lower than the decline in male unemployment. 
• Female labour force participation in urban areas reached 27.2% for the first time.
• However, even as the ratio of women willing to join the workforce rises, their participation in the economy is declining.
• The ratio of female workers to male workers working as legislators, senior officials and managers reduced to 14.4% in 2023 from 19% earlier.
• The decline was much starker in urban areas than in rural areas. 
• The ratio of women working as legislators, senior officials and managers went down 4.8% points in urban areas to 13.8% within a year, compared with 4.1% point decline to 15.4%.
• However, the ratio of women working as professional and technical workers was up during this period to 49.4% from 46.5%.
• According to data, more women with advanced degrees were also able to find work compared with men.