ADVERTISEMENT

India’s Jobless Rate Slides in Signs Economy Is Turning Around

India’s unemployment rate dropped sharply last week after suffering from the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak.

India’s Jobless Rate Slides in Signs Economy Is Turning Around
People walk along a platform at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus train station. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.

India’s unemployment rate dropped sharply last week, in the first sign that Asia’s third-largest economy may be turning a corner after the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak.

The jobless rate for the week to June 13 fell to 8.7% from 13.6% a week ago, data from private research firm Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. showed. Urban unemployment fell to 9.7% from 14.4%, while the rural measure declined to 8.2% from 13.3%.

India’s Jobless Rate Slides in Signs Economy Is Turning Around

That coincided with an improvement in mobility data as many Indian states lifted localized lockdowns imposed to curb the virus’s spread. Google’s Community Mobility Report data on public transport and workplaces show activity levels have started recovering in recent weeks while electricity consumption -- a widely used proxy to gauge demand in India’s industrial and manufacturing sectors -- is making a comeback.

“Looking ahead, lockdown stringency levels could be eased significantly by mid to end-July to levels seen prior to the spread of the second virus wave in March,” Bloomberg Economics’ Abhishek Gupta wrote in a report. “This would allow recovery momentum to pick up in the second quarter of fiscal 2022.”

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.