On May 5, 2020, According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy(CMIE) the country’s unemployment rate rose to 27.11% for the week ended May 3 due to the COVID-19 crisis, up from the under 7% level before the start of the pandemic in mid-March. The unemployment rate stood at 21.05% in the previous week (ending April 26), up from 26.19% in the week before.
Major highlights
i.As per the Mumbai-based think tank, the unemployment rate in the urban areas is high in red zones due to COVID-19 cases at 29.22%, against 26.69% for the rural areas. In the previous week ending April 26, the urban unemployment rate was at 21.45% and the rural unemployment rate at 20.88%.
ii.CMIE’s weekly series of data indicated a steady rise in unemployment since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, showing a sharp spike of 23.81% from the week of March 29.
iii.In Accordance with the CMIE’s data, the monthly unemployment rate in April stands at 23.52%, up from March’s 8.74%. As of the end of April the rates are:
- Puducherry in South India has the highest number of unemployment at 75.8%, followed by Tamil Nadu at 49.8% , Jharkhand at 47.1% and Bihar at 46.6%.
- Maharashtra’s unemployment rate is fixed at 20.9%, Haryana at 43.2%, Uttar Pradesh at 21.5% and Karnataka at 29.8%.
- Unemployment is lowest in the Hilly states, where Himachal Pradesh stands at 2.2%, Sikkim at 2.3% and Uttarakhand at 6.5%.
Key Points
i.Analysts have warned unemployment since lockdown on March 25 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to combat the spread of the virus infections.
ii.Migrants fleeing the urban centres like Delhi and Mumbai confirmed that the long-held concerns on their employment as the economic activity came to a halt.
iii.The government has so far announced income and food support for vulnerable people as part of a Rs 1.70 lakh crore fiscal stimulus for the economic, financial and possibly humanitarian crisis, & also plans for a second round of measures soon.
iv.United States(US) unemployment has risen as over 26 million people lose their jobs and claim government support. Experts often regret the absence of a good scale of jobs in India, which is mainly an organized sector-led economy
About CMIE:
It is leading business information privately owned and professionally managed company established in 1976. It produces economic and business databases and develops specialised analytical tools to deliver these to its customers for decision making and for research. Analyses the data to decipher trends in the economy.
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Chairman– S A Dave
Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Mahesh Vyas
