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The Statistics Ministry on Monday reported that the unemployment rate among women has increased by 30 basis points to 3.2 per cent during the July 2023-June 2024 period. However, the overall rate of unemployment remained unchanged at 3.2 per cent.
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for 2023-24 showed that the unemployment rate for those above the 15 years age group has come down from 3.3 per cent to 3.2 per cent. Though the survey has not given any reason for the higher unemployment rate for women, data revealed that in the rural areas, the number has gone up to 2.1 per cent from 1.8 per cent.
The unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of individuals unemployed among the persons in the labour force. The current number is based on the survey results. The survey covered over 1 lakh households (over 55,000 in urban and over 46,000 in rural areas). The number of persons surveyed was over 4.18 lakh (over 2.4 lakh in rural and over 1.7 lakh in urban areas).
Market shift
Data revealed that in rural areas, the unemployment rate declined to 2.5 per cent in 2023-24 from 5.3 per cent in 2017-18, while in urban areas, it fell to 5.1 per cent from 7.7 per cent. During the same period, the joblessness rate for men dropped to 3.2 per cent from 6.1 per cent and for women to 3.2 per cent from 5.6 per cent.
Employment focus
The government has maintained that employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority. Accordingly, it has taken various steps to generate employment in the country. The various Ministries/ Departments of Central Government such as Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Rural Development, Housing & Urban Affairs, Finance, Textiles, Electronics and Information Technology etc. are implementing different employment generation schemes/ programmes.
These include Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Rural Self Employment and Training Institutes (RSETIs), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), etc., These programs along-with increase in capital expenditure, aim to boost employment creation.
Further, the Government announced in the Budget 2024-25, the Prime Minister’s package of 5 schemes and initiatives to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over 5 years with a central outlay of ₹2 lakh crore.
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