Unemployment rate falls, from grace

The decline in the LPR reflects the inadequacy of the growth in employment opportunities

The unemployment rate fell in March 2022 to 7.6 per cent, from 8.1 per cent in February. But the good news on the labour market front stops here. All the other data points to worsening labour market conditions in March 2022.

The labour participation rate (LPR) fell to 39.5 per cent in March. This was lower than the 39.9 per cent participation rate recorded in February. It was also lower than during the second wave of Covid-19 in April-June 2021. The lowest that the LPR fell to during the second wave was in June 2021 — at 39.6 per cent.