Unemployment highest in 45 years: Job report Govt tried to hide

A report published on Thursday by financial daily Business Standard has taken the lid off the survey which the Government reportedly tried to suppress. The survey report on employment conducted by the NSSO discovered unemployment at a 45-year old high after demonetisation.

Another important finding was the rate of unemployment was higher than in rural India. The survey has dealt with the period up to March, 2018.

Earlier sources in the NSSO had indicated that they were advised not to release the data at this juncture. A response from the Government is still awaited.

India’s unemployment rate stood at a 45-year-high of 6.1% in the year 2017-18, according to the National Sample Survey Office's (NSSO's) periodic labour force survey (PLFS), says the report in Business Standard.

The NSSO's annual household survey of 2017-18 is the first after the November 2016 demonetisation, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared an overnight ban on high-value notes.

The report comes after a day two National Statistical Commission (NSC) members, including acting chairman, resigned on January 28, alleging that the government had withheld its release despite the NSC's approval.

Here are some of the major takeaways from the report which has not been made public yet:

• The employment rate at 6.1 per cent in 2017-2018 was at its highest level since 1972-73. In 2011-2012, the unemployment rate stood at 2.2 per cent.
• The NSSO report shows that unemployment was higher in urban areas at 7.8 per cent and 5.3 per cent in rural parts.
• More people were withdrawing from workforce as the labour force participation rate (LPFR) stood at a lower level than the previous few years.
• The rate of joblessness among rural males in the age group of 15-29 years jumped 3 times to 17.4 per cent in 2017-2018 compared to 5 per cent in 2011-2012.
• The unemployment rate for female youth in rural areas stood ay 13.6 per cent in 2017-18 as compared to 4.8 per cent in 2011-2012.
• The Labour force participation rate declined from 39.5 per cent in 2011-12 to 36.9 per cent in 2017-18.
• The unemployment rate among the educated rural females rose to 17.3 per cent in 2017-18 as compared to 9.7 percent in 2004-05 and 15.2 percent in 2011-12.
• The unemployment rate for rural educate male increased to 10.5 per cent in 2017-18 from 3.5 per cent in 2004-05 and 4.4 per cent in 2011-12.

As soon as the news report appeared, people started reacting sharply on Twitter: