Jobless rate at 2-year high

Hyderabad: Unemployment rate in October rose to 8.5 per cent — the highest since August 2016 — and up from 7.2 per cent in September, according to data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) on Friday, reflecting the impact of a slowdown in the economy.

The increase in unemployment rate mirrors the fall in industrial growth and consumption in the country.

The latest Periodic Labour Force Survey claimed an unemployment rate of 6.1 per cent  that India witnessed  between July 2017 and June 2018 was the worst in 45 years.

According to CMIE, urban India has higher unemployment at 8.89 per cent than rural joblessness which is at 8.28 per cent. The average unemployment rate is 8.48 per cent.

The decline in employment began in Novem-ber 2017 — a year after the Narendra Modi government demonetised high value currency and four months after it rolled out the GST regime.

Tripura topped the list with 27.2 per cent of unemployed. Delhi and adjoining states are the most impacted with the economic slowdown — Haryana having 23.4 per cent of unemployed, followed by Himachal Pradesh    16.7 per cent, Punjab    13 per cent and Delhi    12.8 per cent.

Among the bigger states, Rajasthan    tops the joblessness list with double digit unemployed figure at 14.4 per cent, followed by Bihar with 12.7 per cent and Uttar Pradesh     10.1 per cent.

Uttarakhand has the lowest unemployment among northern states at 1.5 per cent, followed Madhya Pradesh at 3.5 per cent, Chhattisgarh at 7.8 per cent and Jharkhand 9.8 per cent.

The southern states fared comparatively well by registering lower unemployment rates.  Tamil Nadu is the most  well-performing state in the country. It has merely 1.1 per cent unemployed. Puducherry followed closely at 1.2 per cent, Andhra Pradesh at four per cent, and Karn-ataka at 5.8 per cent. Telangana and Kerala fared badly in the south with an unemployment rate of 7.5 per cent and 7.4 per cent respectively.

In the east, Odisha performed well with 4.2 per cent, followed by Megha-laya 4.3 per cent, West Bengal 6.8 per cent and Sikkim 7.1 per cent.

In the western region, Goa has the highest unemployment at 9.1 per cent, followed by Maharashtra 5.6 per cent and Gujarat 5.2 per cent