Labour force rises but not employment

The monthly series of 2017 suggest that sequentially, both labour force and employment should rise in August. If they don't, we must worry

Fiscal 2018-19 is turning out to be a difficult year on the employment front. The first quarter had seen the labour participation rate fall to 42.7 per cent and the employment rate fall to 40.4 per cent.

The first measures the proportion of persons who are willing to work and are either employed or are unemployed, but are looking for a job as a per cent of the total working-age population. The second measures only the employed to the same population. The two indicators measure the economy's absorption of available labour.

Both measures reached their lowest levels during the first