On April 7, 2020 the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy (CMIE) released a data which showed that unemployment rate during March 30 – April 5, 2020 rise to 23.4% from 8.7% for the whole of March 2020 which reflects the impact of lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic breakdown.
Other Projections
- The Labour Participation Rate (LPR) fell to 36%, an all-time low from 41.9% in March 2020.
- The employment rate fell to 27.7% from an all-time low of 38.2 per cent in March 2020.
- The unemployment rate could increase to over 23% once the lockdown is lifted.
LPR in March is the result of a sharp 9 million fall in the labour force, from 443 million in January to 434 million in March 2020.
Drastic changes from January to March
The number of employed fell from 411 million to 396 million and the number of unemployed increased from 32 million to 38 million. So, the 9 million fall in the labour force consists of a 15 million fall in employed & 6 million increase in unemployed.
Key Points
i.The 98-basis point increase was the largest monthly increase recorded in March 2020 compared to February 2020. The 158-basis point increase in the 2 months ended March 2020 is, likewise, the largest increase in the 2-month period ever recorded.
ii.LPR was 42.6% in February 2019 and 42.7% in March 2019.The unemployment rate was 7.7% in February 2019 and 7.1% in January 2019, this rate is rising since its low point of 3.4% in July 2017.
iii.The labour force consists of all employed persons & unemployed who are actively looking for jobs
About CMIE:
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Mahesh Vyas
Chairman– S A Dave
