A yet-to-be-released report that says the country's unemployment rate rose to a 45-year-high in 2017-18 is "not verified" and the "veracity of the data is not known", NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said today. 

The clarification came as the government faced opposition attacks over the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)'s periodic labour force survey (PLFS), withheld by the government but accessed by the Business Standard newspaper. The report, revealed a day before the government's interim Budget, sets up a huge controversy just ahead of the national election, due by May.

The report was not released despite being vetted by the National Statistical Commission in December, allege two non-independent members who quit the data collating body on Tuesday.

The government said: "We have explained to the members that decision to release the report will be ours. We will decide when this should happen." 

According to the report, the National Sample Survey Office conducted between July 2017-June 2018 showed the unemployment rate stood at 6.1 percent, the highest since 1972-73.