Unemployment rate touches 9-week high, trend moving upwards, shows CMIE data

The unemployment rate in India recorded for August 18 was 8.20 percent (30-day moving average), against 7.64 percent at the start of the month on August 1, Centre of Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data showed.

The rate has been incrementally increasing, and touched a nine-week high of 9.1 percent (overall) for the week ended August 16. The urban unemployment rate for the week was 9.61 percent, while the rural unemployment rate was 8.86 percent, CMIE data showed.

The overall unemployment rate had touched a high of 11.63 percent for the week ended June 14, with the urban and rural unemployment rates at 13.10 percent and 10.96 percent, respectively.

The unemployment rate for the month of July was 7.43 percent across India, as per the CMIE.

The numbers for urban areas and rural areas on August 18 were 9.58 percent and 7.56 percent, respectively, compared to 9.70 percent and 6.71 percent on August 1. In July, the rate of unemployment in urban areas was 9.15 percent and in rural areas was 6.66 percent.

Arup Mitra, professor of economics at the Institute of Economic Growth told Mint that the trend can be credited to a decrease in agricultural activities during the month and also to the fact that people have started returning to cities despite partial lockdowns and lack of jobs.

July saw Haryana with the highest unemployment rate of 24.5 percent, and with Puducherry (21.1 percent), Delhi (20.3 percent), Himachal Pradesh (18.6 percent) and Goa (17.1 percent) rounding up the top five. Followed by Tripura (16.4 percent), Rajasthan (15.2 percent), Uttarakhand (12.4 percent), Bihar (12.2 percent), Jammu & Kashmir (11.2 percent), Punjab (10.4 percent), in the double digits.

States with the lowest unemployment rates were: Odisha and Gujarat (both 1.9 percent), Meghalaya (2.1 percent), Assam (3.2 percent), Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka (both 3.6 percent), Maharashtra (4.4 percent) and Sikkim (4.5 percent).