Urban unemployment rate falls to 2-year low in February: CMIE data

At 7 percent, India's urban unemployment rate in February dropped to the lowest in over two years, as per CMIE data. Urban joblessness fell to 6.99 percent in February from 8.08 percent in the month before, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) report said.

The rural unemployment rate, however, rose a percentage point to 6.86 percent in February from 5.83 percent in January.

The overall unemployment rate also increased to 6.9 percent from 6.53 percent a month ago, the data said, as per a LiveMint report.

Among the states, Haryana reported the highest unemployment rate of 26.4 percent, followed by Rajasthan at 25.6 percent and Goa at 21.1 percent. Assam has the lowest unemployment rate of 1.6 percent, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 2.1 percent.

The 30-day moving average unemployment rate was 7 percent as of February 28, 2021, CMIE data showed.

In January 2021, India recorded a significant fall in the unemployment rate and an equally impressive increase in the employment rate.

Nearly 12 million additional people found employment during January with the number of employed persons increasing to 400.7 million in January 2021 from 388.8 million in December 2020. This is the biggest jump in the workforce addition in a month since the onset of the lockdown.

As per CMIE data, the unemployment rate has been volatile in the past six months ranging from a low of 6.5 percent in November 2020 to a high of 9.1 percent in December 2020. The average unemployment rate during this six-month period stood at 7.4 percent.

However, general optimism about the economic situation has led to hiring spikes – largely for junior and entry-level jobs. The job market is likely to improve further with the and improved business outlook and mass COVID-19 vaccine rollout.