It was rural India that made the bigger contribution to the turnaround in labour conditions
Haryana is a rich state with a relatively high per capita income. People here are therefore apparently less willing to take up informal employment in the unorganised sector
According to its Economic Survey, in 2021-22, Haryana's per capita net state domestic product at Rs 2,74,635 was nearly twice the national average of Rs 1,50,326
This rise in the unemployment rate reflects the inability of the economy to provide adequate jobs at a time when the demand for jobs from people increased
Rural India's steep fall in willingness to spend on consumer durables and urban India's scepticism regarding their future well-being is worrisome
The 15-24 years age group has a relatively low labour participation rate (LPR). Between 2016-17 and 2021-22, while the average was 42.6%, the LPR for the youth was much lower at 22.7%
Most of the souring of sentiments emanated from rural India. It is likely that the principal reason for this is the behaviour of the southwest monsoon
Labour statistics for July show that a recovery did indeed take place in rural India. But, this has turned out to be grossly inadequate
After having scaled up by 5% in February, the index of consumer sentiment's growth rate fell in March, April and May 2022. In May and June 2022, it was a meagre 1%
About 34 per cent of people in the age group 20-24 years sought employment during the January-April 2022 period
The gradual loss of momentum of growth in sentiments can be traced to the deterioration in consumer expectations from the future
While about 13 million lost jobs during the month, the count of the unemployed increased by only 3 million
Consumer sentiments have been recovering, but at a very slow pace. Worse still, this recovery has been decelerating in recent months. Further, this recovery is skewed in favour of the rich
Consumer expectations in rural India were down by 1.7 per cent in May while expectations in urban India improved by 6.4 per cent
It is quite possible that the controls on export of wheat and sugar could have caused the sentiments in general and expectations in particular to sour in recent times
Expectations play an important role in decision-making. Enterprises and the financial markets, for example, allocate funds that reflect their expectations
The labour force increased by 8.8 million - from 428.4 million in March 2022 to 437.2 million in April 2022
Now, more than half of the 900 million Indians of legal working age -- roughly the population of the US and Russia combined -- don't want a job, according to the CMIE
In 2022, India will record the fifth consecutive year of bumper wheat crop
The decline in the LPR reflects the inadequacy of the growth in employment opportunities