Mumbai, Nov 20: Quarterly unemployment rate for urban areas declined to a record low of 6.4 per cent in July-September as against 6.6 per cent in the previous quarter as well as the year-ago period, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Monday showed. The drop in unemployment rate, the lowest since the start of PLFS in April-June 2018, came amid a surge in the labour force participation rate (LFPR) and the worker population ratio (WPR).LFPR, which is the percentage of persons in the labour force that is working or seeking or available for work, shot up to a record high of 50.4 per cent in the July-September quarter, the quarterly PLFS data showed. WPR, which is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population, also jumped to a record-high level of 47.2 per cent in the same period. Experts said this indicated a pickup in economic activity and hiring by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
This was the second consecutive quarter of a decline in the unemployment rate for urban areas, after the unemployment rate had inched up to 6.7 per cent during January-March this year. Gender wise split showed that the unemployment rate for females was also at a record low of 8.4 per cent in July-September. However, this marked the fifth consecutive quarter of the female unemployment rate remaining above 8 per cent. For males, the unemployment rate inched lower to 5.7 per cent in July-September from 5.8 per cent a quarter ago and 6 per cent a year ago.