New Delhi: Unemployment rate (UR) in urban areas in India, has dropped to a record low of 6.4% for individuals aged 15 years and above during the July-September 2024 quarter. It was at 6.6% in the same period last year. The Quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey published by the Union government showed this.
The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) rose to 50.4% in the July-September 2024 quarter, up from 49.3% a year ago. The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) measures the proportion of people earning or actively seeking work in relation to the total population. The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) surged to 47.2% from 46.0% during the same period last year. The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) represents the percentage of employed individuals among the total population.
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Improvements in employment metrics were seen across both genders. Among men aged 15 years and above, the unemployment rate dropped from 6.0% in July-September 2023 to 5.7% in the corresponding period of 2024. For women, the UR decreased marginally from 8.6% to 8.4%, while their LFPR saw a notable increase from 24.0% to 25.5%. Male participation in the labour force rose from 73.8% to 75.0.
The share of regular wage or salaried employment rose to 49.4% in the July-September 2024 quarter from 48.3 per cent a year earlier. The share of tertiary sector jobs increased to 62.3% during the July-September 2024 quarter as compared with 61.5% a year ago, while the agriculture sector’s share reduced.
The Union government launched the flagship Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in 2017 to assess labour-market movements in a country with a burgeoning job-seeking population. The PLFS issues quarterly data on key indicators but with a lag, including the country’s unemployment rate for urban areas. The quarterly surveys gauge employment based on “current weekly status,” or CWS. A reference period based on CWS means the PLFS considers a person employed if he or she had been engaged in any economic activity in the week prior to the survey.The PLFS also publishes an annual report on employment and unemployment rates in both urban and rural areas based on both CWS and usual status (US), which is a 12-month reference period.