Unemployment rate stagnant, reveals government survey

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) reveals stagnant unemployment rate, increased women workforce participation, and lack of job growth in manufacturing.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for the period between July 2023 and June 2024, released by the Labour Bureau on Monday (September 23, 2024), reported no major change in the unemployment rate, and there is minor increase in the distribution of workers in agriculture and the manufacturing sector shows no growth in giving jobs compared to past years. The participation of women workforce has also improved. The Centre had faced criticism for growing unemployment rate and decrease in the number of women in jobs.

A release by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said that in rural areas, the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) increased from 50.7% in 2017-18 to 63.7% in 2023-24 while for urban areas it increased from 47.6% to 52.0%. “LFPR for male in India increased from 75.8% in 2017-18 to 78.8% in 2023-24 and corresponding increase in LFPR for female was from 23.3% to 41.7%,” the release said. The LFPR for Muslim women increased from 15% in 2021-22 to 21.4% in 2023-24. In the case of Hindu women, the participation in workforce increased from 26.1% in 2021-22 to 33.3% in this year. Similarly, among Sikh and Christian women, the LFPR increased from 19.8% to 26.7% and 34.2% to 38.3% respectively for the same period.

In rural areas, the unemployment rate (UR) decreased from 5.3% in 2017-18 to 2.5% in 2023-24 while for urban areas it decreased from 7.7% to 5.1%. “UR for male in India decreased from 6.1% in 2017-18 to 3.2% in 2023-24 and corresponding decrease for female was from 5.6% to 3.2%,” the Centre said. The overall unemployment rate is 3.2%, similar to last year.

Experts said the annual survey gave a grim picture of the employment scenario. “Grim situation has become grimmer. The annual report is revealing it,” said labour economist Santosh Mehrotra. “There is no improvement in the unemployment scenario, neither in youth unemployment nor in overall unemployment,” said Prof. Mehrotra. He said the Centre continues to claim that the LFPR and Worker Population Ratio were increasing. “It is because of the increase in workers in agriculture. This also means that unpaid family labour has also increased and the PLFS counts this unpaid family labour as employment. The participation of workers in agriculture share has gone up for the fourth year in a row. This is shocking,” he said.

Prof. Mehrotra said the increase in workforce in agriculture meant that the process of people looking for non-farm jobs reversed and it had not stopped. “The number of people who have gone back to agriculture in search of jobs may have increased from 20 crore in 2012 to nearly 27 crore in 2024,” he said.

As the workers’ participation in manufacturing is still 11.4%, Prof. Mehrotra said, the share of manufacturing in providing employment is not increasing. “In 2012, it was 12.8%, and it ever recovered in the last 10 years. “The contribution of construction work has gone back to 12%. The sector, which revived, is not showing any buoyancy,” he said.