Unemployment has become a serious problem in India, and accurate data is needed to properly understand and solve it. The government has taken an important step in this direction, under which a plan has been made to release monthly unemployment figures. This step will be applicable for both urban and rural areas, thereby providing more clarity on the employment and unemployment situation.
Need for monthly unemployment data
Till now, unemployment figures in India were released only on quarterly and annual basis. Unemployment figures for urban areas were released quarterly and data for rural areas were released annually. This method was not able to properly capture the changing circumstances from time to time. Therefore, the government has decided that monthly unemployment figures will be released from February 2025. This data will be available for both urban and rural areas, so that the actual situation of the employment market can be better assessed.
The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) will implement this scheme. The ministry had already planned to release urban unemployment data quarterly and rural data annually, but now it will be updated every month. This will provide workers, policymakers and economists with fresh and accurate data on employment conditions, which will make policies and plans more effective.
gap in female unemployment
Recently released data revealed that unemployment has decreased in urban areas, but the unemployment rate of women is still higher than that of men. For example, the urban female unemployment rate is 8.4%, while the male unemployment rate is 5.7%. The government needs to pay special attention to bridge this gap, because it indicates that women workers are not getting an equal share in employment opportunities.