Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released its ‘Periodic Labour Force Survey’ quarterly bulletin for January-March 2023 on Monday. According to the report, urban unemployment rate declined to 6.8% during Q4 FY23 from 7.2% in the previous quarter. The unemployment rate was 8.2% during January-March 2022, the report stated.
Unemployment rate among male population in urban areas declined to 6.1% during the quarter, compared to 6.5 % seen in Q3 FY23. During January-March 2022, the rate stood at 7.8%.
Similarly, the female unemployment rate in urban areas also saw a decline during Q4 FY23. According to the report, female unemployment rate stood at 9.2% during the above mentioned time period. This is a decline from 9.6% recorded during the previous quarter. The rate was 10.1% during January-March 2022.
Overall, unemployment rate in urban areas has seen a steady decline since January-March 2022.
For all age groups, the highest unemployment rate was seen in Himachal Pradesh which stood at 15.2% during January-March 2023. The second-highest unemployment rate was recorded in Chhattisgarh at 12.5%. Jammu and Kashmir recorded third-highest unemployment rate at 12.4%.
Labour force participation rate was also reported for both male and female populations of urban areas. According to the report, for male population of all age groups, the participation rate stood at 57.3% during January-March 2023. This is a small increase from the 57.2% recorded in Q3 FY 23 but a decline from 57.4% in January-March 2022.
For female population of all age groups in urban areas, labour participation rate stood at 18.0% during Q4 FY23, a small increase from 19.1% in Q3 FY 23. The participation rate for female was 17.3% during January-March 2022.