The controversial and much-delayed Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) shows that Karnataka’s unemployment stands at 4.8% for those above 15 years of age, significantly below the national average of 6%.
Unemployment rates in PLFS, which conducted its surveys in 2017-18, have been under the scanner after a leaked report in January showed that the national unemployment rate was at a 45-year high.
The report, released by Ministry of Statistics, Planning and Implementation, shows that the Unemployment Rate (UR) in Karnataka for usual status (that is, based on work over the year prior to the survey) compares to relatively-industrialised States of Gujarat and Maharashtra (both are 4.8%), but below neighbouring Andhra Pradesh (4.5%). The State is fifth best among large States in terms of low rate of unemployment.
Unemployment is highest in urban areas, following the trend shown in the previous National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)employment reports. In Karnataka, urban unemployment is at 6.3%, compared to rural unemployment of 3.9%. Unemployment rates among females over the age of 15 is the highest at 7.2%.
Similarly, youth unemployment (that is, those without work between the ages of 15 and 29) has touched 15.8% in the State. Though this is higher than Maharashtra and Gujarat, the unemployment rate among youth remains the lowest in South India.
The report shows that as education qualifications increase, so does unemployment rates. For the illiterate, who form nearly a quarter of the State’s population, the unemployment rate is 0.4%, while for those with diploma or comparable certificates, the unemployment rate is 22.1%. The unemployment rate among graduates and postgraduates is more than 12%.
This is particularly stark in rural Karnataka — 35% of those with diploma certification are unemployed, while nearly a quarter of postgraduate degrees are without jobs in rural hinterlands. In contrast, 13.5% of urban diploma holders are unemployed, while barely 1 in 10 postgraduates is unemployed.
Data comparison
The NSSO had surveyed more than 7,600 people from 224 villages in the State between July 2017 to June 2018 for the report that incorporates multiple changes compared to the quinquennial (once in five years) surveys conducted before.
NSSO data from 2011-12 labour survey had shown the State’s unemployment to be 2.2%. While the PLFS compares data from previous surveys, a release from the Union Government on Friday notes that due to changes in methods of sampling, the PLFS report “provides a new metric for measurement of employment and unemployment”.