India Unemployment Rate Rises in October on Rural Joblessness

(Bloomberg) -- India’s jobless rate rose as unemployment surged in the nation’s rural areas, even as non-farm jobs notch up gains with the economy emerging from pandemic curbs.

Unemployment in October rose to 7.75% from a three-month low of 6.86% in September, data from private research firm Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. showed Monday. Rural unemployment jumped to 7.91% from 6.06% the previous month, whereas urban joblessness dropped to 7.38% from 8.62%, the data showed.

The hinterland-fueled growth in the unemployment rate is unlikely to be a major cause for concern to India’s policy makers just yet, given manufacturing activity is expanding amid business optimism hitting a six-month high in October. Data from IHS Markit showed manufacturing and services sectors have been adding jobs in recent months to keep up with stronger demand in the economy.

The data from CMIE is one of the early indicators of economic activity and is tracked widely in the absence of timely government data. India’s labor ministry recently reinstated efforts to publish official data, but it doesn’t give a complete picture of the job situation in the country.

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