The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released its 21st quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) bulletin for October-December 2023 (Q3FY24).
- As per it, India’s urban unemployment rate (UR) in Current Weekly Status (CWS) terms for persons aged 15 years and above declined to 6.5% during Q3FY24 which is the lowest level in over 4 years.
- It was 6.6% in Q2FY24, and 7.2% in Q3FY23.
- It was high at 12.6% recorded in the Covid-affected April-June quarter of FY22 (Q1FY22).
Assessment:
A total number of 5,697 FSUs- First Stage Unit (UFS- Urban Frame Survey blocks) have been surveyed during Q3FY24. The number of urban households surveyed was 44,544 and number of persons surveyed was 1,69,209 in urban areas.
Key Figures representing Persons of 15 years and above in Urban Areas in Q3FY24:
i.UR in CWS among male population declined to 5.8% (Q3FY24) as compared to 6.5% in Q3FY23.
- UR in CWS among females also saw a decline during Q3FY24 to 8.6% from 9.6% in Q3FY23.
ii.At all India level, Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in CWS increased to 49.9% (Q3FY24) from 48.2% in Q3FY23.
- For male, it was around 74.1% as compared to 73.3% in Q3FY23.
- For female, LFPR increased to 25% from 22.3% in Q3FY23.
iii. At all India level, Worker Population Ratio (WPR- in %) in CWS increased to 46.6% from 44.7% in Q3FY23.
- For male, it increased to 69.8% from 68.6% in Q3FY23.
- For female, it increased to 22.9% from 20.2% in Q3FY23.
Key Points:
i.Increased enthusiasm for work led to better job opportunities for both men and women.
ii.Salaried job share in urban areas rose to 47.3% for men and 53% for women in Q3FY24.
- Overall, its 48.7%.
iii.Self-employment in urban areas also increased to 40.6%. Its 40.6% for male, and 40.3% for female.
About Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS):
It was launched in 2017 by NSSO to serve the following two purposes:
- To estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months (quarterly) for the urban areas only in the ‘Current Weekly Status’ (CWS).
- To estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both ‘Usual Status’ and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.
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.
About Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI):
Minister of State (Independent Charge)– Rao Inderjit Singh (Constituency- Gurugram, Haryana)
Secretary– DR. G P Samanta
