Alarming rise in unemployment rate in August leaves people rummaging for jobs
The rate of unemployment is again on the rise in India. Over 15 lakh people lost their jobs in August. Both the formal and informal sectors have been affected. This has reversed the small gains in employment rate made in July.
These form the gist of the latest report on the unemployment status in the country by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), an independent economic think tank.
The report says that the number of employed people fell from 39.93 crore in July to 39.77 crore in August. The national unemployment rate increased to 8.32 per cent in August, from 6.95 per cent in July.
Of those who lost their jobs during the month, 13 lakh belong to rural India. While the rural unemployment rate increased by 1.3 per cent, from 6.34 per cent in July to 7.64 per cent in August, the urban unemployment rate rose by 1.5 per cent, to 9.78 per cent in August from 8.3 per cent the month before. In March, just before the second wave of COVID-19, the urban unemployment rate was lesser still, standing at 7.27 per cent.
The total rise in unemployment happened mainly due to the low sowing during the kharif season. While the employment rate decreased, the labour force participation rate rose marginally in August, indicating that a larger pool of people were willing to get into the job market.
The monthly CMIE data showed 3.6 crore people were actively looking for work in August, compared to around three crore in July. The total labour force size rose to 43.38 crore, almost 40 lakh more than July, showing a worsening trend.
Moreover, the higher number of jobs that July saw, compared to the previous month, was caused largely as a result of a rise in low-paying informal jobs in agriculture.
The continuous degradation of job quality and availability is causing a great deal of stress to the people and the economy of the nation as a whole. Continuing trends like these and such apathy from responsible authorities at the level of the Union government will eventually spell doom for the citizens.
