New Delhi: Amid criticism over high joblessness rate, a survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Saturday showed that urban unemployment rate dropped to the lowest level in four quarters at 9.3% during January-March 2019.The quarterly bulletin of Periodic Labour Force Survey by the NSO, released on Saturday, does not contain comparable figure for January-March 2018.The NSO, which is a wing of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, stated in the bulletin that the urban unemployment rate (UR) was 9.9% in April-June 2018, 9.7% in July-September 2018 and 9.9% in October-December 2018.The first quarterly bulletin for the quarter ending December 2018 was brought out in May 2019. This bulletin for the March 2019 quarter is the second in the series.The data showed that UR in urban areas among males was at 8.7% during January-March 2019.Also Read: 9 Million Jobs Lost in 6 Years, a First in Indian HistoryThis joblessness rate among males in urban areas was 9 per cent in April-June 2018, 8.9% in July-September and 9.2% in October-December last year.For women, the UR was at 11.6% during January-March 2019.While, this rate for women during April-June 2018 was 12.8%, in July-September was 12.7% and in October-December last year was 12.3%.The government had been receiving a lot of criticism for high unemployment rates amid slowing economic growth. In May this year, government data had shown that joblessness in the country was 6.1% of total labour force during 2017-18, the highest in 45 years.The survey on Saturday pointed out that the overall labour force participation rate (LFPR) was estimated as 36 per cent in the urban areas during January-March 2019, as compared to 35.6% during April- June 2018. The LFPR was 36.1% in July-September and 36.3% in October-December last year.The LFPR for men was estimated to be 56.2%, while for women it was at 15% in the urban areas during the January-March 2019 period.The LFPR for men was 56% in April-June, 56.3% in July September and 56.4% in October-December last year.Similarly, the LFPR for women was 14.6% in April-June and 15.3 in July-September and 15.4% in October-December last year. This indicates that women participation in employment has improved slightly till October-December last year but deteriorated a little bit in January-March 2019.Labour force refers to the part of the population which supplies or offers to supply labour for pursuing economic activities for the production of goods and services and, therefore, includes both ’employed’ and ‘unemployed’ persons.The LFPR is defined as the percentage of population in the labour-force. Labour-force according to current weekly status (CWS) is the number of persons either employed or unemployed on an average in a week of seven days preceding the date of survey. In Statement 1, LFPR in CWS are presented.The survey also showed that of the total workforce 37.7% were self-employed, while 50% were salaried or regular workers and 12.4% were casual labourers.
