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Job Situation Improved In 2018-19 Before Covid-19 Hit India: Government Data

Labour force participation rate during 2018-19 rose to 37.5% as compared to 36.9% a year ago.

A worker pulls an iron pipe onto a truck in the steel and iron market area of New Delhi, India. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)
A worker pulls an iron pipe onto a truck in the steel and iron market area of New Delhi, India. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)

India’s job situation registered an improvement during 2018-19 with unemployment rate declining to 5.8%, down from 6.1% in the previous financial year, according to data released by the government.

The labour force participation rate during 2018-19 rose to 37.5% as compared to 36.9% a year ago, said the Periodic Labour Force Survey, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

While the unemployment rate refers to the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force, the LFPR is defined as labour force in the population.

The data further showed that the worker population ratio, which refers to the percentage of employed persons in the population, also increased to 35.3% from 36.9% during 2017-18.

The improvement in the job situation, according to the PLFS, was witnessed in both urban and rural areas as well as among men and women.

While the unemployment rate in rural area came down to 5% during 2018-19 from 5.3% in the previous financial year; in urban areas, it declined to 6% from 6.2% during the same period.

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The National Statistical Office launched the PLFS in April 2017 to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators like WPR, LFPR and unemployment rate in the short-time interval of three months.