The labour force participation rate (LFPR) during 2018-19 rose to 37.5 per cent as compared to 36.9 per cent a year ago. (Reuters)

The country’s job situation registered an improvement during 2018-19 with unemployment rate declining to 5.8 per cent, down from 6.1 per cent in the previous financial year, according to government data. The labour force participation rate (LFPR) during 2018-19 rose to 37.5 per cent as compared to 36.9 per cent a year ago, said the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

While the unemployment rate refers to the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force, the LFPR is defined as labour force (working or seeking or available for work) in the population. The data further showed that the worker population ratio (WPR), which refers to the percentage of employed persons in the population, also increased to 35.3 per cent from 36.9 per cent during 2017-18.

The improvement in the job situation, according to the PLFS, was witnessed in both urban and rural areas as well as among men and women. While the unemployment rate in rural area came down to 5 per cent during 2018-19 from 5.3 per cent in the previous financial year; in urban areas, it declined to 6 per cent from 6.2 per cent during the same period.

The National Statistical Office launched the PLFS in April 2017 to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators like WPR, LFPR and unemployment rate in the short-time interval of three months. According to the quarterly data, the unemployment rate during the June 2019 quarter declined to 8.9 per cent, down from 9.3 per cent in the March 2019 quarter, based on the current weekly status (CWS) approach. The improvement in job situation was witnessed among all age groups.

Under the CWS approach, a person is considered as unemployed in a week if he/she did not work even for an hour during the week but sought or was available for work at least for an hour during the week. The other parameters, including LFPR and WPR, also showed improvement in all categories and age groups in the quarterly data which was released along with the second annual report based on PLFS.