The Labour Force Participation Rate was 39.6% for people of all ages. Representational file image.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The unemployment rate in the urban areas of the country was 6.4% for the period of October to December 2024 for persons of age 15 years and above, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in New Delhi on Tuesday (February 18, 2025). For male, the the unemployment rate was 5.8% during the period, while for female it was 8.1%.

Last year, during the same quarter, unemployment rate for ages above 15 was 6.5%, while in the last quarter of July to September, 2024, the rate was 6.4%. The female unemployment rate last year was 8.6%.

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Among the States, Himachal Pradesh had the highest unemployment rate with 10.4% and Gujarat had the lowest with 3.0%. Female unemployment rate too was the highest in Himachal Pradesh with 24% and lowest was in Delhi at 1.3%. PLFS defines unemployment rate as the percentage of unemployed persons in the labour force in current weekly status (CWS) – the number of persons either employed or unemployed on an average in a week.

The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), the percentage of population in the labour force, was 39.6% for people of all ages. It was 39.2% in the similar quarter last year. The LFPR for women has increased by 0.1 percentage point to 20% than last year’s 19.9%. However, the LFPR decreased from last quarter’s figure of 20.3%. The lowest LFPR for all people and for women are the lowest in Bihar with 30.7% and 9.9% respectively. The PLFS was done among 1,70,487 people in 45,074 households.

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in urban areas among persons of age 15 years and above has increased from 46.6% during October to December, 2023, to 47.2% in October to December, 2024. WPR for male of age 15 years and above for urban areas increased from 69.8% in October to December, 2023, to 70.9% during October to December, 2024.

The workers are classified into three broad categories according to their status in employment such as self-employed, regular wage/salaried employee and casual labour. Within the category of self-employed, two sub-categories have been made as own account worker and employer combined together and unpaid helper in household enterprises. In these categories, 39.9% were self-employed, 49.4% were regular employees and 10.7% were casual labourers. 5.5% workers were in agriculture sector, 31.8% workers were in secondary sector, including mining, and 62.7% workers were in tertiary sector that includes service sectors.

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana, a pet scheme of the Narendra Modi government, which had an allocation of ₹2,272 crore in the last Budget has got just ₹150 crore in the Interim Budget. Image for representation.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

At a time when the Centre is drawing flak over unemployment among educated youth, the Interim Budget 2024-25 decreased allocations to the Labour Ministry on Thursday. The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana, a pet scheme of the Narendra Modi government, which had an allocation of ₹2,272 crore in the last Budget has got just ₹150 crore in the Interim Budget. The total allocation for the Ministry is ₹12,531.47 crore, compared with ₹13,221.73 crore in the last Budget.

The allocation for social security schemes for workers come down to ₹11,520.29 crore from ₹12,152.82 crore in the last Budget. The allocation for Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan, a scheme meant for old age protection and social security of unorganised workers was cut down by half to ₹177.24 crore and the Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Maandhan, a similar pension scheme for small retailers, traders and businessmen was given just ₹1 lakh.

Allocation to National Child Labour Project including grants in aid to voluntary agencies and reimbursement of assistance to bonded labour decreased to ₹6 crore from ₹20 crore in the last budget. Among the social security schemes, the Employees Pension Scheme, run by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation, saw a marginal increase.

While in her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said her government had created more employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, Trade Unions refuted this claim. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) said the Interim Budget is a bunch of lies and a desperate attempt to privatisation. “It is an attempt to come back to power by claiming that the average income of people has increased by 50% and inflation is moderate, which is a myth, while the reality is otherwise with rising prices of essential commodities and unemployment across the nation. The International Labour Organisation report has unravelled falling real wages across the world including India and UN report on Poverty Index ranking has exposed the performance of India as worst of the times. Interim Budget instead of infusing confidence in the people struggling to make ends meet has only made cruel fun of reality,” said CITU general secretary Tapan Sen.