Employment picking up gradually but urban jobless rate a concern

Jobs seem to be making a gradual comeback with the easing of lockdown restrictions and opening up of the economy. The unemployment rate has been slowly recovering from the highs of May, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

The all India unemployment rate stood at 9.17 per cent in June compared to 11.9 per cent in May, CMIE data showed. By July, the 30-day moving average unemployment rate had further come down to 7.8 per cent as on July 13.

Joblessness was at its peak in the week of May 23 when unemployment touched a high of 14.73 per cent on an all-India basis. Urban unemployment climbed up to a high of 17.88 per cent in the week of May 30, but since then has been slowly coming down.

Concern in urban areas

However, unemployment continues to be higher in urban areas compared to rural areas, CMIE data reveals. As on July 13, urban unemployment rate 8.7 per cent compared to 7.4 per cent in rural areas.

There is expectation that jobs will stood at come back once again as businesses revive.

The Nomura India Business Resumption Index accelerated to 95.7 for the week-ended July 11, from 91 the previous week, indicating that business activity has climbed back to the pre-second wave levels.

However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many small businesses may not look to re-open immediately and there are concerns that a possible third wave could hamper economic activity and job creation further in the coming months.

The TeamLease Jobs and Salaries Primer Report 2021 reveals that with technology and sales becoming critical functions required for business continuity and recovery, not only has the demand for IT and sales profiles grown, but the salaries they command have also increased significantly.

But while there is exuberance in certain sections, the sentiment is definitely not universal, it noted.

The National Career Service (NCS) portal reveals that there are over 98.8 lakh active job seekers as of June 29, 2021. Meanwhile, there are just 1.31 lakh active vacancies registered with the portal.

Over 24.8 lakh job seekers are in the age group of 18 to 24 years and more than 51.7 lakh job seekers are between 25 to 34 years of age, the NCS data revealed.

Data on NREGA reveals that a total of 4.32 crore households have already availed work under the scheme as on July 14. Further, 4.05 lakh households have already completed their 100 days of wage employment under the scheme.

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