According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Quarterly Bulletin (April – June 2024), released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation(MoSPI), the Unemployment Rate (UR) in urban areas among persons aged 15 years and above decreased to 6.6% in April-June quarter of FY25 (1st quarter of 2024-2025), from 6.7% in January-March quarter of FY24.
- UR among males aged 15 years and above decreased to 5.8% in April – June, 2024 from 6.1% during January – March, 2024.
- UR among females aged 15 years and above increased to 9% in April – June, 2024 from 8.5% in January – March 2024.
The present Quarterly Bulletin is the 23rd in the series for the quarter April – June, 2024.
Points to Note:
i.The Unemployment Rate (UR) is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.
ii.The data from the NSO is based on the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach.
iii.The CWS is the activity status determined based on a reference period of the last 7 days preceding the date of the survey is known as the CWS of the person.
Youth Unemployment Rate (UR):
i.The UR in CWS among the urban youth aged 15-29,also declined to 16.8% in the 1st quarter of FY25 from 17% in the January to March, 2024 period.
ii.Urban unemployment among males aged 15 to 29 improved to 14.8% in the 1st quarter of FY25 from 15.1% in the January to March, 2024 period.
iii.However, the same rate among females of the same age groups increased to 23% in the 1st quarter of FY25 from 22.7% in the January to March, 2024 period.
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR):
i.It is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
ii.The LFPR in urban areas among persons aged 15 years and above has declined to 50.1% in April – June 2024 from 50.2% during January – March 2024.
iii.LFPR for males aged 15 years and above in urban areas increased to 74.7% in April – June 2024 from 74.4% in January – March 2024, reflecting an overall increasing trend in male LFPR.
iv.LFPR among females aged 15 years and above for urban areas decreased to 25.2%  in April – June 2024 from 25.6% in January – March 2024.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR):
i.WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
ii.WPR in urban areas among persons aged 15 years and above has decreased to 46.8% in April – June 2024 from 46.9% during January – March 2024.
iii.WPR for males of age 15 years and above for urban areas increased to 70.4% in April – June 2024 from 69.8% in January – March 2024.The WPR for females decreased to 23% in April – June 2024 from 23.4% in January – March 2024 .
Employment composition:
i.The share of salaried workers and casual workers increased to 49% and 11% respectively. The share of female workers in regular work rose to 54% from 52.3%.
ii.The share of workers in the tertiary sector (the biggest employer in the urban areas), rose to 62.4% in April – June 2024 from 62.2% in January- March FY24.
- The share of workers in the secondary (manufacturing) sector also increased to 32.1% in April – June 2024 from 32% in January- March FY24.
About the NSO:
i.The NSO is the Statistics Wing of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Government of India (GoI).
ii.It consists of the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the Computer Center, and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
iii.The NSO launched India’s 1st computer-based survey to measure labour force participation dynamics at 3-month intervals for urban areas in April 2017.
About the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI):
Minister of State (MoS) (Independent Charge)- Rao Inderjit Singh (Constituency: Gurgaon, Haryana)
