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Unemployment in India was 8.3 per cent in December 2022, according to data released by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt Ltd (CMIE), an independent economic think-tank.
This is a marked increase from January 2022 when the unemployment rate was 6.56 per cent and is also higher than the level recorded in November 2022 (8 per cent).
The overall unemployment rate is the worst in 16 months, an analysis of data from the CMIE dashboard showed.
The country’s urban areas have some of the worst rates of unemployment, the update shared by CMIE January 1, 2023 showed. It was 10.09 per cent in December 2022, considering the 30-day moving average for the month. The level worsened since November 2022, when it was 8.96 per cent.
In contrast, the rate of employment in the country’s rural areas improved slightly in December 2022 compared to the preceding month. The rate decreased to 7.44 per cent in December last year from 7.55 per cent in November, according to CMIE data.
In both areas, however, the rate of unemployment worsened throughout the year — from 8.14 per cent in urban India and 5.83 per cent in rural India at the beginning of the year.
At present, Haryana (37.4 per cent) has the highest rate of unemployment in the country, followed by Rajasthan (28.5 per cent) and Delhi (20.8 per cent).
Odisha (0.9 per cent, Gujarat (2.3 per cent) and Karnataka (2.5 per cent) recorded the lowest levels of unemployment in December 2022, CMIE data showed.
The subcontinent’s unemployment rate, however, also increased since January 2022 to 37.1 per cent, said Mahesh Vyas, managing director of the CMIE, to news agency Reuters, highlighting that the situation is not all that grim. The labour participation rate also rose to 40.48 per cent in December 2022 — the year’s highest, he added.
In December 2019, the country’s unemployment rate was 7.7 per cent; in December 2020, it was 9.1 per cent; and in December 2021, it was 7.9 per cent, according to CMIE.