Unemployment rate at 6-year low of 3.2% in 2022-23: 6th NSSO Annual PLFS

On October 9, 2023, the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the 6th Annual Report ‘Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) [July, 2022 – June, 2023]’  stating Unemployment rate (UR) at 6-year low of 3.2% in 2022-23 under the Usual Status (ps+ss). It was 6% in 2017-18.

• The UR in Current Weekly Status (CWS) decreased to 5.1% in 2022-23. It was 8.7% in 2017-18.
• The UR under the Usual Status during the one-year period declined for the 5th consecutive year since it was launched in April 2017 while under CWS it decreased for the 3rd consecutive year since April 2017.

Assessment:

i.The 6th annual report by NSSO is based on the PLFS conducted during July 2022-June 2023.

ii.Out of the total number of 12,800 FSUs (First Stage Units), 12,714 FSUs (6,982 villages and 5,732 urban blocks) have been surveyed during July 2022 – June 2023.

iii.The number of households surveyed was 1,01,655 (55,844 in rural areas and 45,811 in urban areas).

iv.The number of persons surveyed was 4,19,512 (2,43,971 in rural areas and 1,75,541 in urban areas).

Key Notes:

i.In Usual Status (ps+ss), employment is determined on the basis of the reference period of 365 days preceding the date of the survey.

• PS stands for Principal activity status.
• SS stands for Subsidiary economic activity status.

ii.In Employment Status, it is determined on the basis of a reference period of seven days, which is known as the Current Weekly Status (CWS) of the person.

Estimates of key Labour Market Indicators in Usual Status (ps+ss) during PLFS July 2022-June 2023 (2022-23) for Persons of age 15 years and above

i.At all India level, UR decreased to 3.2% in 2022-23  from 4.1% in 2021-22

• In rural areas, it decreased to 2.4 % from 3.2% in 2021-22.
• In urban areas, it decreased to 5.4 % from 6.3% in 2021-22.
• UR for male in India decreased to 3.3% from 4.4% in 2021-22.
• UR for female in India decreased to 2.9 % from 3.3% in 2021-22.

ii.At all India level, Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) increased to 57.9%  in 2022-23 from 55.2% in 2021-22.

• In rural areas, it increased to 60.8% from 57.5% in 2021-22.
• In urban areas, it increased to 50.4% from 49.7% in 2021-22.
• LFPR for male in India increased to 78.5% from 77.2% in 2021-22.
• LFPR for female in India increased to 37% from 32.8% in 2021-22.

iii.At all India level, Worker Population Ratio (WPR) increased to 56% from 52.9% in 2021-22.

• In rural areas, it increased to 59.4% from 55.6% in 2021-22.
• In urban areas, it increased to 47.7% from 46.6% in 2021-22.
• WPR for male in India increased to 76% from 73.8% in 2021-22.
• WPR for female in India increased to 35.9% from 31.7% in 2021-22.

Estimates of key Labour Market Indicators in CWS during PLFS 2022-23 for Persons of age 15 years and above

i.At all India level, UR decreased to 5.1% in 2022-23  from 6.6% in 2021-22

• In rural areas, it decreased to 4.4% from 6% in 2021-22.
• In urban areas, it decreased to 7% from 8.3% in 2021-22.
• UR for male in India decreased to 5.1% from 6.9% in 2021-22.
• UR for female in India decreased to 5.1% from 5.8% in 2021-22.

ii.At all India level, Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) increased to 54.6%  in 2022-23 from 51.7% in 2021-22.

• In rural areas, it increased to 56.7% from 53% in 2021-22.
• In urban areas, it increased to 49.4% from 48.6% in 2021-22.
• LFPR for male in India increased to 77.4% from 75.9% in 2021-22.
• LFPR for female in India increased to 31.6% from 27.2% in 2021-22.

iii.At all India level, Worker Population Ratio (WPR) increased to 51.8% from 48.3% in 2021-22.

• In rural areas, it increased to 54.2% from 49.9% in 2021-22.
• In urban areas, it increased to 46% from 44.6% in 2021-22.
• WPR for male in India increased to 73.5% from 70.7% in 2021-22.
• WPR for female in India increased to 30% from 25.6% in 2021-22.

About Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS):

NSSO launched PLFS in April 2017to serve the following two purposes:

• To brought out quarterly estimates of labour force indicators namely UR, WPR, LFPR, distribution of workers by broad status in employment, and industry of work in CWS within a short duration of 3 months.
• To annually estimate employment and unemployment indicators in rural and urban areas using Usual Status and CWS.

Note: In 2019, The NSSO merged with the Central Statistical Office (CSO) to form the National Statistical Office (NSO) to strengthen and streamline the processes and bring in more synergy.

Key Definitions:

UR: It is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons among the labour force.

LFPR: It is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.

WPR: It is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.

CWS: The activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey is known as the current weekly status (CWS) of the person.

Recent Related News:

i.MoSPI Standing Committee on Economic Statistics (SCES), tasked with examining economic indicators, will be replaced by a Standing Committee on Statistics(SCoS), to review the framework and results of surveys conducted for the National Statistical Office (NSO).

ii.MoSPI released its report titled ‘Women and Men in India 2022’ which is 24th in a series. As per it, an average Indian woman, aged between 15 and 29 spends 5.5 hours doing unpaid labour. A man in that age group spends about 50 minutes a day doing work that yields no money.

About Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI):
Minister of State (Independent Charge)– Rao Inderjit Singh (Constituency- Gurugram, Haryana)
Secretary– DR. G P Samanta