India's unemployment down to 6.8% for Jan-March quarter, as per labour force survey

India has been ranked as the 103rd most miserable country across the globe out of 157 nations, and unemployment is a key factor behind that. Worsening month after month since the beginning of the year, unemployment in the country hit 8.11 per cent for April 2023.

But now a periodic labour force survey has delivered some respite, as it found that unemployment dropped to 6.8 per cent in the January-March quarter.

Urban unemployment dropped the most

This is a 0.4 per cent drop from a 7.2 per cent unemployment rate in the October to December quarter of FY23.

But it is a significant decline from 8.2 per cent, where it stood during the same quarter of FY22.

Urban unemployment also fell 50 per cent from the levels that it hit during first quarter of FY22.

Formal sector thriving

Although 90 per cent of the country is employed in the informal sector, the government's data showed how formal employment surged the most since 2018, while the purchase managers' index claimed that job creation was marginal.

Participation of women in the workforce did go up during the fourth quarter of FY23, but at the same time, unemployment for them remained 9 per cent, much higher than it was for men.