India's urban unemployment rate drops to 9.3% in Jan-Mar 2019: Govt data

The urban unemployment rate in the country fell to 9.3 per cent during January-March 2019 from 9.8 per cent in April-June 2018, government data showed on Saturday. The data does not contain comparable figure for the year-ago period of January-March 2018.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released its Quarterly Bulletin for the January-March 2019 period, presenting estimates of labour force indicators, for urban areas, a statement said. The data showed that unemployment rate in urban areas among males was estimated at 8.7 per cent during January-March 2019 as compared to 9 per cent during April-June 2018.

For women, the UR was at 11.6 per cent during the reported period as against 12.8 per cent during April-June 2018. 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 per cent of total labour force during 2017-18, the highest in 45 years.

The statement 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 per cent during April- June 2018. The LFPR for men was estimated to be 56.2 per cent, while for women it was at 15 per cent in the urban areas during the January-March 2019 period.