The US Bureau of Labour Statistics said among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for blacks increased to 14.3 per cent in October.
Movement in the stock market this week will largely be driven by global trends, macroeconomic data announcements and trading activity of foreign investors, analysts said. Equity benchmark indices, which are on a dream run for the past several days, will also track trading in global oil benchmark Brent crude and movement of rupee against the US dollar. "The next FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting is scheduled for mid-September, but before that, the market will be closely watching upcoming US economic data.
'The lack of opportunities here remains the biggest worry.' 'We have seen investment summits, but if you look around, much of it is only on paper and not on the ground.'
Growth in corporate profits needs to be commensurate with wages to boost the economy, Economic Survey 2024-25 said, noting that sharp disparities between the two pose risk to the economy by curbing demand. The document tabled in Parliament on Friday noted that while the labour share of GVA (gross value added) shows a slight uptick, the disproportionate rise in corporate profitsredominantly among large firmsaises concerns about income inequality.
The number of individuals claiming unemployment benefits declined by 32,300 to 1.59 million.
Fresh formal job creation cooled for the second consecutive month to decline to a six-month low in September, signalling a downturn in the labour markets this financial year. The number of new monthly subscribers under the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) declined by 6.45 per cent to 891,583 in September from 953,092 in August, shows the latest payroll data released by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). Besides, the net payroll additions -- calculated by taking into account the number of new subscribers, the number of exits, and the return of old subscribers -- increased by 14.9 per cent to 1.72 million in September from 1.49 million in August.
At a poll rally on Monday, Prime Minister Modi said the protests against the new citizenship law in Shaheen Bagh and other areas in New Delhi are not a coincidence but an 'experiment' ('sanyog nahi prayog') and a political conspiracy to destroy the country's harmony. Taking on the PM, Priyanka Gandhi said a report recently said 3.5 crore jobs have been lost in the last five years in seven important sectors.
'One of the biggest employment generators, the MSMEs, have not got much from the government.'
'Till a few years ago, girls wouldn't take an autorickshaw alone. Now, things have improved.'
If Beijing succeeds in this multipronged effort to challenge the current dominant power, it will have not just economic but political and security consequences. There is no let-up in the South China Sea nor any de-escalation moves on the India-China border. This portends to ominous signalling from Beijing, observes China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the Union Budget, calling it inadequate to address the country's economic woes and accusing the BJP-led government of using it to woo voters in Bihar and Delhi ahead of upcoming elections. Leaders from the Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, and CPI(M) voiced their disapproval, highlighting concerns over inflation, unemployment, and the lack of substantial measures to support the agricultural sector and the poor. They also criticized the tax cuts for the middle class as insufficient and coming too late after years of high taxes and rising prices.
The unemployment rate in the 16- nation euro area stood at 10 per cent in July, indicating that the region's labour market continues to remain shaky.
The return of the unemployment rate to pre-lockdown times is not worth celebrating because it is more a reflection of a shrinking labour force than a decline in the count of the unemployed, observes Mahesh Vyas.
The Indian economy is likely to grow at over 7 per cent in the current fiscal year, former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya said on Wednesday, while observing that the growth rate should sustain next year too provided the forthcoming Budget does not have any negative surprises. Panagariya further said recessionary fears have been around for a while but so far neither the US nor the EU has gone into recession. "From the viewpoint of India, in terms of headwinds originating abroad, the worst is probably behind us," he told PTI.
Reflecting a strained labour market even as signs of economic recovery are rising, the unemployment rate in the OECD region rose to 8.6 per cent in August.
The US economy shed 54,000 jobs in August, significantly less than anticipated, stoking hopes that the country's labour market is slowly improving.
Euro zone -- a group of 16 nations that share the common currency euro -- has seen the jobless pace jump to 9.6 per cent in August, little higher than 9.5 per cent in July. In August last year, the rate stood at 7.6 per cent.
Rediff.com's data journalists have broken down the National Sample Survey Office 68 round (July 2011- June 2012) report data into a state-wise listing.
"The unemployment rate for the OECD area was 8.6 per cent in September 2009, the same as the previous month and 2.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier."
'Efforts are on to make the data readily available so that it proves useful for policymakers.'
'When so many young Baloch men and women are willingly volunteering as fighters and even suicide bombers.'
'Brazil, China, Colombia and India each had more than 2,000 of their citizens overstaying student/exchange visas, with India having the highest number (7,000).'
Going by the estimates, 22.899 million men and women in the European Union were unemployed during that month. Out of them, 15.712 million were in the euro area. Between November 2008 and November 2009, the jobless rate for males rose to 9.9 per cent in the euro area.
Employment fell by 2.5 million in February, 0.1 million in March, 7.4 million in April and then by 15.3 million in May, explains Mahesh Vyas.
'They have not mentioned the word minorities. They say scholarships will be given to marginalised communities'
Eighteen months after the economy was battered by the Covid-induced lockdown, employment has not recovered to its pre-pandemic levels, points out Mahesh Vyas.
One fact is irrefutable: Nepal's recent political history tells us that the route to a return of monarchy cannot go through India despite friends in high places, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
'The first job you pick up may not be your ultimate dream job.' 'When the situation is no job or any job, my advice to them will be, pick up any job at the moment.' 'You should use that job as a learning experience.' 'It is easier to find a job when you are working somewhere than when you are sitting at home with no work.'
Rural and urban regions present different labour participation and employment levels. These differences also are not tuned to India exploiting its demographic dividend, says Mahesh Vyas.
'In May 2020-2021, nearly 10 crores (100 million) lost jobs. 'Covid is not the reason for the present crisis. It aggravated the crisis.'
The addition of a million jobs as promised by Tejashwi Yadav would make a big impact. But the electorate needs to raise its expectations, notes Mahesh Vyas.
62 per cent of respondents across various demographics, including villages, towns, and cities, perceived a greater difficulty in securing employment compared to the previous five years, shows pre-poll survey by Centre for Study of Developing Societies.
January 2021 more than recovered the loss of employment of the past three months, notes Mahesh Vyas.
'I am optimistic about the Budget because of the fiscal discipline the government has committed to.'
Gold prices rallied by Rs 630 to a lifetime high of Rs 82,700 per 10 grams in the national capital on Wednesday following persistent buying by jewellers and retailers amid strong global trends, according to the All India Sarafa Association. Rallying for the sixth straight session, gold of 99.5 per cent purity appreciated by Rs 630 to hit a lifetime high of Rs 82,330 per 10 grams.
'In today's political spectrum, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party that always says, nation first.'
In the backdrop of an over four-decade high inflation, the US Federal Open Market Committee has raised its key policy interest rate by 75 basis points to 2.25-2.50 per cent, anticipating that the increase in the interest rates will be "appropriate". Hiking interest rates typically cool demand in the economy, thereby putting a brake on the inflation rate. The US Federal Reserve in its June meeting too raised the interest rate by 75 basis points, which was the steepest hike since 1994.
'The startup ecosystem, the government, and the owners of large pools of Indian capital need to actively support the creation of these local champions, not pull down the teams that are trying hard to get there.'
'Nobody is talking about the inequality that is going to come.'
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