Unemployment rate declines sharply as India exits lockdown:

Praise of Prashant

• The national unemployment rate has fallen sharply since offices, shops and self-employment routes reopened after the center lifted all lockdown restrictions.
• Analysts say the improvement is due to an increase in extraordinary work, and should not be interpreted as growth in the formal sector.

New Delhi: India's labor market showed tremendous strength in the second week of June, reviving a number of jobs lost due to the economic downturn caused by the lockdown across the country, and gave some hope to this hope. What could be the worst end?

 

According to a survey by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the national unemployment rate for the week ended June 14 rose sharply to 11.63 per cent from 17.51 ​​per cent in the previous week. The decline rate is close to the level before the lockdown. .

 

The improvement came more than two months after the government lifted the ban on almost all lockdowns and reopened offices, shops and self-employment routes. The summer planting season and the rural employment guarantee scheme also provided employment opportunities to the people in the villages.

 

As a result, the rate of decline in rural employment fell sharply compared to the overall unemployment rate, the CMIE said, falling to 10.96 per cent from 17.71 per cent in the previous week. ۔ This compares with the jobless rate of 8.29% in rural India and 8.41% nationally from Saturday to March 22, three days before the implementation of the lockdown.

 

The CMIE said the urban unemployment rate is much higher than the rural and overall unemployment rate.

 

However, economists and job market experts warn that the improvement is largely due to increased casual work and self-employment activities, and should not be construed as an increase in regular sector employment. He said that industrial activities have started to pick up, but recovery in wage employment and regular employment in the sector will take a long time.

 TMI Group Chairman Murali Dharan Tiagrajan said, "This lockdown has put an end to self-employment, and once the unlocking has started, people in this category are returning to earn their living, as the survey found. The results show, "a staff company.

Distribution of the complete picture of the laborer

Wage distribution

If we analyze the available data points and ground level interactions with people and corporates, we can say that the work is coming back for free. Tiagraj said that at least 75% of the people in the labor market are working for wages, earning their livelihood through self-employment, including agricultural work and casual jobs. "Tiagraj said." It will take a year to recover from good jobs in the regular sector. Code 19 pain "

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Professor Santosh Mehrotra said there were three main reasons behind the rapid improvement. "The sowing season is underway, which is going to attract people. Second, the reopening of employment activities that were thrown out of gear due to the lockdown. And third, the demand to work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. I have increased, ”said Mehrotra, chairperson of the Center for Informal Affairs and Labor Studies at JNU. "But these are not regular jobs. We've been talking about four decades. Think about the high unemployment rate before the code lockdown, and if there's a job loss rate of 10 to 12 percent, on people. Overall impact. This is a crisis for any labor market. "

Experts say the lack of decent jobs has the potential to push more people into poverty.

"People who used to be salaried employees have moved back to the villages and are either engaged in casual work or agricultural work. Monthly paid drivers or office support staff who have lost their jobs and lost wages. Have gone back because of. Asked Arup Mitra, a professor of economics at the Institute of Economic Growth in New Delhi.