1.10.16

Joblessness in India at 5-yr high



Joblessness in India is running at a five-year high of 5% of the 15+ years workforce.

What does 5% unemployment and 35% unemployment and 35% underemployment mean in hard numbers?
Projecting from Census 2011 figures, India had a 15-years-and-older labour force of about 45 crore. So, 5% of that is a whopping 2.3 crore people. In addition, there are those who are working but not the whole year round, often called hidden unemployment.This works out to nearly 16 crore people. Women's employment continues to stagnate with 8.7% of women in the labour force without jobs.
Comparison to previous surveys done by the Labour Bureau show that the unemployment rate rose from about 3.8% in 2011 to 4.9% in 2013. This was a period of a relative economic slowing down compared to earlier in the decade.But growth has been recorded at 7.3% in 2015-16, yet the job situation has worsened. The Modi government's pronouncements for job creation, like Make in India, StartUp India, Digital India, etc do not seem to have had the desired impact.
The Labour Bureau survey also found that about 47% of the working population was self-employed. This would be mostly farmers, shop keepers, and enterprise owners. But the low economic level of this section is revealed by the fact that 85% of such households had a monthly income of less than Rs.10,000. Another 33% households earn their living through casual employment. Regular wage or salary earning households make up just 17% of all, although this is the kind of work that pays more with 43% earning more than Rs.10,000.


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