In May, the unemployment rate increases by 50 bps to 5.6% due to seasonal factors

Monthly job data is based on the current weekly status (CWS) approach. Under this approach, the state of activity of a person is measured for seven days before the survey date.

‘Change required’

The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MOSPI) warned that an increase in unemployment rate in May does not necessarily reflect “secular trends” as the survey and the increased frequency of seasonal, educational and labor market factors were expected to change monthly data.

While the unemployment rate (UR) increased in May, the participation rate of labor force (LFPR) fell from 55.6 percent to 54.8 percent last month at the all -India level for people aged 15 and above. For men, LFPR 40 BPS declined by 77.2 percent, while women fell from 100 bps to 33.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the worker population ratio (WPR) fell from 52.8 percent to 51.7 percent in April, which was for persons aged 15 and above.

Unemployment on growth

While the LFPR is a part of the population that is demanding or available for work, the WPR is the percentage of people employed in the population.

“The decline in LFPR and WPR and the increase in UR was largely operated by seasonal agricultural patterns, high heat temperature was experienced in some parts of the country in May, due to which physical external work is limited and some unpaid assistants get agitations in rural homes, especially for domestic work, especially in high income (top 3 decilee),” Mosti said in a statement.

In rural areas, LFPR fell from 110 bps to 56.9 percent, declining urban areas to smaller from 30 BPS to 50.4 percent, the figures revealed. For persons aged 15 and above, the rural WPR 130 BPS declined by 54.1 percent in May, while the urban WPR 50 was at 46.9 percent. The Ministry of Statistics said that with the end of the Rabi crop season in rural areas, the decrease in agricultural activities “may be about the change in the number of workers”, saying that employment in rural areas has gone away from agriculture (45.9 percent to 43.5 percent from 43.5 percent in April) in secondary and service sectors.

Youth, women ratio

Within overall figures, there were young women in rural areas to see the biggest growth in unemployment in May.

In May, the unemployment rate for rural women in 15–29 age groups increased from 10.7 percent to 13 percent in April, with 70 BPS to 24.4 percent for their urban counterparts.

For young men, the increase in unemployment was quite small: 13 percent in April to 14 percent in May in May and 15 percent in April to 15.8 percent in urban areas. Overall, the unemployment rate for all persons aged 15–29 years increased by 120 bps to 15.0 percent at the all-India level in May.

A total of 3.8 lakh persons were surveyed in May, just like April. As part of the revived survey design for PLFS adopted in January, a rotational panel sampling design is being used. As part of this design, each selected house is visited four times in four consecutive months. This ensures that three-fourths of first-phase samples units, or FSU, are matched between two consecutive months.