Recovery on thin ice as India finds itself in a crater on employment front

Economic recovery either stopped in the third quarter or it stopped showing up in recovery in employment

The government has predicted that the economy would recover in the second half of the current fiscal year. Real GDP contracted by 15.7 per cent in the first half compared to the previous year’s first half. Government expects the second half to almost not shrink anymore in a similar comparison. But, employment statistics available till the third quarter do not support such optimism. 

In the first quarter when the economy tanked by 23.9 per cent, employment contracted by 18.4 per cent – both in year-on-year comparisons. In similar comparisons, in the second quarter, the economy contracted by 7.7 per cent