Unemployment Rate (UR) Remains Steady in Latest Periodic Labour Force Survey
The official data source on Employment and Unemployment is Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) which is conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18. The survey period is July to June every year. As per the latest available Annual PLFS reports, the estimated Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above in the country is as follows:
| Year | WPR (in %) | UR (in %) | |
| 2017-18 | 46.8 | 6.0 | |
| 2018-19 | 47.3 | 5.8 | |
| 2019-20 | 50.9 | 4.8 | |
| 2020-21 | 52.6 | 4.2 | |
| 2021-22 | 52.9 | 4.1 | |
| 2022-23 | 56.0 | 3.2 | |
Source: PLFS, MoSPI
The above data indicates that the WPR i.e. employment has increasing trend and Unemployment Rate has a decreasing trend over the years.
The KLEMS (K: Capital, L: Labour, E: Energy, M: Materials and S: Services) database published by Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) provides employment estimates at all India level. As per the latest data of the database, provisional estimates for 2023-24, employment in the country increased to 64.33 crore in year 2023-24 compared to 47.15 crore in 2014-15. Total increase in employment during 2014-15 to 2023-24 is about 17 crore.
The National Career Service (NCS) portal (www.ncs.gov.in) of Ministry of Labour and Employment provides a variety of employment related services like job search & matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, internships etc through the portal. As on 30th July 2024, NCS platform has more than 30.92 Lakh Employers and more than 20 Lakh active vacancies. During the year 2023-24, 1.09 crore vacancies were posted on NCS portal and the total number of vacancies mobilized on the portal since its launch in 2015 is more than 2.9 Crore.
Employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority of the Government. Accordingly, the Government of India has taken various steps for generating employment in the country.
The various Ministries/ Departments of Government of India like Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, etc. are implementing different employment generation schemes/ programmes like 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. including increase in capital expenditure to boost employment creation. The details of various employment generation schemes/programmes being implemented by the Government of India may be seen at https://dge.gov.in/dge/schemes_programmes.
Further, 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 a 5-year period with a central outlay of Rs. 2 lakh crore.