Govt's first monthly data series pegs unemployment at 5.1 pc in April

New Delhi, May 15 (IANS) The government on Thursday said that Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in current weekly status (CWS), an indicator of employment, among persons of age 15 years and above was 55.6 per cent during April, LFPR for rural areas was 58 per cent and LFPR in urban areas was 50.7 per cent during the month for persons of the same age group.

The data also includes rural job figures, for the first time ever, to widen the coverage, according to new series based on monthly data, released by the Ministry of Statistics.

The Unemployment Rate (UR) in CWS among persons of age 15 years and above was 5.1 per cent in April, The male UR was a tad higher at 5.2 per cent compared to the female UR of 5.0 per cent at the country level, the data showed.

The unemployment rate (UR) in urban areas was 6.4 per cent during October-December, 2024 of the old series which were compiled on a quarterly basis.

LFPR in CWS for males of age 15 years and above in rural and urban areas were 79 per cent and 75.3 per cent, respectively, while LFPR among females of age 15 years and above for rural areas was 38.2 per cent during April.

Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in CWS in rural areas among persons of age 15 years and above was 55.4 per cent. WPR in urban areas among persons of the same age group was 47.4 per cent with the overall WPR at the country level observed as 52.8 per cent during April, as per the data.

WPR for female of age 15 years and above for rural and urban areas were 36.8 per cent and 23.5 per cent, respectively, during the month and the overall female WPR of the same age group at the country level was observed as 32.5 per cent.

Considering the need for generation of high frequency labour force indicators with enhanced coverage, the sampling methodology of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has been revamped from January 2025.

The revamped PLFS design is envisaged to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (Labour Force Participation Rate, Worker Population Ratio and Unemployment Rate) on a monthly basis for rural and urban areas in the CWS at all India level.

The monthly results are planned to be released in the form of monthly bulletins of PLFS. The present monthly bulletin is the first in the series for the month April 2025.

A rotational panel sampling design has been adopted in PLFS for both rural and urban areas from January 2025. In this rotational panel scheme, each selected household is visited four times in four consecutive months – one with first visit schedule and other three with the revisit schedule. The scheme of rotation ensures that 75 per cent of the first-stage sampling units (FSUs) are matched between two consecutive months.

--IANS

sps/na