MUMBAI: Unemployment in India rose to a three-month high in March, to 7.8%, on deteriorating labor markets in the country, according to data from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
The unemployment rate in the country rose in December 2022 to 8.30%, but fell to 7.14% in January. It rallied again in February to 7.45%, CMIE data released on Saturday showed.
In March, the unemployment rate in urban areas was 8.4%, while in rural areas it was 7.5%.
“Indian labor markets deteriorated in March 2023. The unemployment rate increased from 7.5% in February to 7.8% in March. The effect of this is compounded by the simultaneous drop in the force participation rate employment, which fell from 39.9 percent to 39.8 percent,” CMIE chief executive Mahesh Vyas told PTI.
That led to a decline in the employment rate from 36.9 percent in February to 36.7 percent in March, Vyas said, adding that employment fell from 409.9 million to 407.6 million.
Among the states, unemployment was highest in Haryana at 26.8%, closely followed by Rajasthan at 26.4%, Jammu and Kashmir at 23.1%, Sikkim 20.7%, Bihar 17.6% and Jharkhand 17.5%.
Unemployment was lowest in Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh at 0.8% each, followed by Puducherry at 1.5%, Gujarat at 1.8%, Karnataka at 2.3% and Meghalaya and Odisha at 2.6 % each.
Aditya Mishra, director and chief executive of human resources services at CIEL, said that after the October-January holiday season, employment in retail, supply chain, logistics, financial services and e-commerce has declined.
“Our IT, Technology and Startup sectors have tightened their belts leading to a slowdown in new hires. Thirdly, with March being the year-end and exams month, the leisure travel, tourism, entertainment and hospitality do not record high demand.
“These factors have reduced the boost to employment. Manufacturing, engineering, construction and infrastructure have kept the job market warm. The March results are a combination of all these factors. We will see a recovery in April,” he added.
Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder of TeamLease Services, said the unemployment figures reflect a pensive mood noted in the current economic environment.
“India Inc is thoughtful and weighs every step carefully and thus has momentarily relaxed the assumptions as what is happening globally may affect India at some point too. However, for India it may just be a passing shower as we are much more resilient to external forces, he added.
The unemployment rate in the country rose in December 2022 to 8.30%, but fell to 7.14% in January. It rallied again in February to 7.45%, CMIE data released on Saturday showed.
In March, the unemployment rate in urban areas was 8.4%, while in rural areas it was 7.5%.
“Indian labor markets deteriorated in March 2023. The unemployment rate increased from 7.5% in February to 7.8% in March. The effect of this is compounded by the simultaneous drop in the force participation rate employment, which fell from 39.9 percent to 39.8 percent,” CMIE chief executive Mahesh Vyas told PTI.
That led to a decline in the employment rate from 36.9 percent in February to 36.7 percent in March, Vyas said, adding that employment fell from 409.9 million to 407.6 million.
Among the states, unemployment was highest in Haryana at 26.8%, closely followed by Rajasthan at 26.4%, Jammu and Kashmir at 23.1%, Sikkim 20.7%, Bihar 17.6% and Jharkhand 17.5%.
Unemployment was lowest in Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh at 0.8% each, followed by Puducherry at 1.5%, Gujarat at 1.8%, Karnataka at 2.3% and Meghalaya and Odisha at 2.6 % each.
Aditya Mishra, director and chief executive of human resources services at CIEL, said that after the October-January holiday season, employment in retail, supply chain, logistics, financial services and e-commerce has declined.
“Our IT, Technology and Startup sectors have tightened their belts leading to a slowdown in new hires. Thirdly, with March being the year-end and exams month, the leisure travel, tourism, entertainment and hospitality do not record high demand.
“These factors have reduced the boost to employment. Manufacturing, engineering, construction and infrastructure have kept the job market warm. The March results are a combination of all these factors. We will see a recovery in April,” he added.
Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder of TeamLease Services, said the unemployment figures reflect a pensive mood noted in the current economic environment.
“India Inc is thoughtful and weighs every step carefully and thus has momentarily relaxed the assumptions as what is happening globally may affect India at some point too. However, for India it may just be a passing shower as we are much more resilient to external forces, he added.
