PLFS October-Dec 2024: Urban unemployment rate above national average in half of India

New Delhi: The October-December 2024 quarterly periodic labour force survey (PLFS) revealed a marginal year-on-year improvement in the unemployment rate in the country’s urban areas at 6.4 per cent, though it remained static quarter-on-quarter.

However, a closer look at the government survey will reveal that 12 out of the 22 surveyed states and union territories (UTs) had higher unemployment rates for persons 15 years and above than the national average during the quarter, implying that the governments, both central and state, need to put extra effort into minimising the gap.

From 6.5 per cent in October-December 2023, the country’s average urban unemployment rate rose to 6.7 per cent in January-March 2024, eased to 6.6 per cent in April-June and 6.4 per cent in July-September, and remained static at 6.4 per cent in the October-December period of last year.

During the October-December period of last year, the unemployment rate was lower than the national average in 10 states and UTs, including Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The urban unemployment rate was the highest in Jammu & Kashmir at 13.1 per cent and the lowest in Gujarat at 3 per cent.

In October-December 2023, the unemployment rate was lower than the national average in eight states and UTs, the same as it was in July-September 2024.

Six states and UTs performed better than the national average in all five quarters from October and December 2023: Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal.

The PLFS survey tracks joblessness, labour force participation, and worker-population ratios.

The unemployment rate is based on the Current Weekly Status (CWS), where a person is considered unemployed if she did not work for at least one hour during the reference week but was available for work during that time.

Amid the overall improvement in the average employment scenario, the rise in joblessness among urban males, though marginal, is disturbing. It rose from 5.7 per cent in July-September 2024 to 5.8 per cent in October-December 2024 and remained unchanged compared with the October-December quarter of 2023.

However, the unemployment rate for females has significantly declined. From 8.6 per cent in October-December 2023, the joblessness rate for urban women declined to 8.1 per cent in October-December 2024, the lowest in three years. It was 8.4 per cent in July-September 2024.