Urban unemployment rises in Q4, but more women join the workforce

New Delhi: Joblessness in Indian towns and cities rose sequentially in the fourth quarter of the last financial year, but more women joined work, government data released on Wednesday showed.  

The overall urban unemployment rate, which had declined to 6.5% in the third quarter from 6.6% in Q2, increased once again to 6.7% in the last quarter of the financial year 2024, according to the latest quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data. 

However, it was lower than the 6.8% urban joblessness seen a year ago.

Women join work

The Female Labour Force Participation Rate in urban areas rose to a high of 25.6% during the same period, up 0.6 percentage points in Q4 from the previous quarter.

According to the survey released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the female labour force participation in urban areas stood at 23.2% in Q1, FY24, 24% in Q2, FY24, and 25% in Q3, FY24.

During Q4, FY23, female labour force participation in urban areas stood at 22.7%.

Working population ratio

Meanwhile, during Q4FY24, the working population ratio (WPR) – working people as a proportion of total populuation – in urban areas increased to 46.9%, comprising 69.8% (males) and 23.4% (females).

The WPR in the urban areas stood at 45.2% in Q4, FY23, 45.5% in Q1, FY24, 46% in Q2, FY24 and 46.6% in Q3, FY24.

The latest data released by MoSPI applies to the urban working population over 15 years old.

In contrast to the WPR, the labour force participation figure refers to those in work as a percentage of the working age population.

Interestingly, while the male unemployment rate in urban areas has risen slightly in the last 12 months, the female unemployment rate witnessed a gradual fall during the same period.

While, the unemployment rate among males in urban areas stood at 6% during Q4, FY23, 5.9% in Q1, FY24, 6% in Q2, FY24, 5.8% in Q3, FY24 and 6.1% in Q4, FY24, unemployment rates among women in urban areas stood at 9.2%, 9.1%, 8.6%, 8.6% and 8.5%, respectively, during the above mentioned quarters.

According to MoSPI, as many as 44,598 urban households and about 169,459 people across the country made up the sample size of the survey during the Q4, FY24 period.

"At the all-India level, in the urban areas, a total number of 5,706 FSUs (urban sampling unit curved out from Urban Frame Survey) have been surveyed during the quarter January – March 2024," the MoSPI said.

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