Unemployment rate in India at an 8-month high
The unemployment rate in India rose up to an eight-month high of 9.2 per cent in June 2024. The last highest rate was in October 2023, when it was 9.4 per cent, and had been going downwards since then.
The unemployment rate in June 2024 was a spike-up from the 7 per cent in May. It was 8.5 percent in June 2023.
The figures are based on the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey, conducted periodically by the leading economic think tank, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
The unemployment rate indicates the percentage of people who are unemployed and actively seeking work among those in the labour force.
In June 2024, the female unemployment rate was 18.5 per cent, significantly higher than the national average, compared to 15.1 per cent in the same month last year. It was also at a seven-month high, since the 18.1 per cent of November 2023.
The male unemployment rate was 7.8 per cent, slightly up from 7.7 per cent in June 2023. Like the national average, the male unemployment rate was also at an eight-month high; it was 8.4 per cent last October.
The rise in unemployment occurred despite a higher Labour Participation Rate (LPR), a metric which measures those working or willing to work and actively seeking employment among the total working-age population (15 years and above). The LPR increased from 40.8 per cent in May to 41.4 per cent in June. It was 39.9 per cent in June 2023 while the last highest was 41.9 per cent in December 2023.
The male and female LPRs rose to 68.1 per cent and 11.3 per cent, respectively, in June, from 67.6 per cent and 10.9 per cent, respectively, in May. For males, the last highest LPR was in February, when it was 68 per cent, and for females, it came last December, when it was 12.1 per cent.
Further differentiating, rural areas continued to face higher joblessness, with the unemployment rate increasing to 9.3 per cent in June 2024 from 6.3 percent in May; it was 8.8 per cent in June 2023.
For rural males, the rate rose to 8.2 per cent in June 2024 from 5.4 per cent in May and for rural females, it jumped from 12 per cent in May to 17.1 per cent in June.
Urban areas too experienced a rise in unemployment, but by a smaller level—from 8.6 per cent in May 2024 to 8.9 per cent in June.
Like for rural females, urban females too saw a sharp increase in the unemployment rate, from 18.53 per cent in May 2024 to 21.36 per cent in June.
