The government said on Thursday the worker-population-ratio (WPR) in 2020-21 increased to 52.6% against 46.8% in 2017-28, reflecting higher engagement of people in productive activities. The government quoted the data collected by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) through a periodic labour force survey (PLFS). WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Union minister Jitendra Singh said, “WPR has shown a continuous upward trend in the last four years, while unemployment rate (UR) has witnessed a continuous declining trend since 2017-18 onward.”

“Employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority of the Government. Accordingly, the Government of India has taken various steps to deal with the problem of unemployment in recent times,” he added.

Meanwhile, WPR for persons aged 15 years and above witnessed a surge at 44.5% from July to September period this year. Of this, the worker population rate amongst females stood at 19.7%, whereas amongst males it stood at 68.6% in the July to September period this year. It stood at 43.9% in the April to June period this year.

The country has seen a decline in the unemployment rate in urban areas (for individuals aged 15 years and above) from 6.9% in 2019-20 to 6.7% in 2020-21, according to the government. Of this, the unemployment rate among males witnessed a decline of 6.1% in 2020-21 compared to 6.4% in 2019-20. The unemployment rate amongst females witnessed a decline of 8.6% in 2020-21 from 8.9% in 2019-20.

In rural areas, the country witnessed a decline in the unemployment rate to 3.3% in 2020-21 from 3.9% in 2019-20. The unemployment rate amongst males aged 15 years and above stood at 3.8% in 2020-21 as compared to 4.5% in 2019-20. Among females aged 15 years and above, it stood at 2.1% in 2020-21 compared to 2.6% in 2019-20.

The unemployment rate across India, with rural and urban areas combined, stood at 4.2% in 2020-21 as compared to 4.8% in 2019-20. The unemployment rate amongst males stood at 4.5% in 2020-21 as compared to 5% in 2019-20. Amongst females, it was 3.5% in 2020-21 vs 4.2% in 2019-20.

Between July and September this year, the unemployment rate in the country dipped to 7.2% as against 9.8% in the same period last year, according to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). The unemployment rate, as per the CMIE data, in November touched a three-month high at 8% against 7.77% in the previous month.

India's worker population ratio

India's worker-population-ratio rises to 52.6% in FY21