India's labour market in the second quarter (July-September/Q2) of 2025-26 (FY26) showed resilience, with the jobless rate easing even as more people entered the workforce. However, a rise in youth unemployment and a fall in the share of salaried workers remain areas of concern.
Benchmark BSE Sensex fell 558 points on Thursday amid heavy selling in IT shares, as concerns over AI-led disruptions and waning hopes of a Fed rate cut after firm US economic data weighed on investor sentiment.
As the years passed, joblessness in the region increased.
India's unemployment rose to a three-month high in March to 7.8 per cent as the country's labour markets deteriorated, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Unemployment rate in the country surged in December 2022 to 8.30 per cent but declined in January to 7.14 per cent. It edged up again in February to 7.45 per cent, the CMIE data released on Saturday showed. During March, the unemployment rate in urban areas was at 8.4 per cent while in the rural areas it was at 7.5 per cent.
The rate of unemployment was the highest in the urban areas, which constitute the most number of red zones due to the COVID-19 cases, at 29.22 per cent, as against 26.69 per cent for the rural areas.
India's unemployed, the report said, were mostly those with higher education degrees and the young.
The unemployment rate among women came down to 12.4 per cent in urban areas
The US unemployment rate in June has remained unchanged at 7.6 per cent as more than 195,000 jobs were added to the economy this month, latest official figures said.
Releasing the survey report after taking into account the expert committee recommendations, Statistics Secretary Pravin Srivastava told reporter, "It is a new design and a new matrix. It would be unfair to compare it with the past. This 45- year high is your interpretation. I don't want to claim that it is 45-year low or high."
The number of jobs lost in the United States came down sharply by 247,000 as the unemployment rate declined to 9.4 per cent in July, one of the strongest indications yet that recession in the world's largest economy is easing.
The second annual employment and unemployment survey 2010-11, by the Labour Bureau, will show an improvement in the employment situation, officials said, while attributing the positive trend to a change in methodology, sample size and some extent to an improved labour situation in the country.
The Nifty IT index hit a more than nine-month low, trading at its weakest level since April 17, 2025.
West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya refutes Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claims of the BJP bringing in outsiders to cause trouble, accusing her of desperation ahead of the assembly elections and highlighting alleged failures of the TMC government.
India's jobless rate stood at 3.8 per cent during the last fiscal, with Daman and Diu and Gujarat topping the list of least unemployed among states and UTs.
India's unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above was recorded at a six-year low of 3.2 per cent during July 2022-June 2023, as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2022-2023 released by the National Sample Survey Office. Joblessness or unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons in the labour force. Considering the importance of the availability of labour force data at more frequent time intervals, the NSSO launched the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017.
Unemployment rate in the country has zoomed to a high of 8.3 per cent in December, the highest in 2022, according to data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The unemployment rate during November was at 8 per cent, while in September it was the lowest at 6.43 per cent and was at the second highest level during the year at 8.28 per cent in August, the CMIE data stated. While the urban unemployment rate was at 10 per cent during the last month of 2022, rural joblessness stood at 7.5 per cent during December.
The unemployment rate in India has shot up to a five-year high of five per cent in 2015-16, with the figure significantly higher at 8.7 per cent for women as compared to 4.3 per cent for men, says a report by Labour Bureau.
Unemployment rate rose to 13.3 per cent in July-September 2020 as compared to 8.4 per cent in the year-ago period, according to a periodic labour force survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO). Joblessness or unemployment rate (UR) is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons in the labour force. The UR was 20.9 per cent in April-June 2020, the eighth Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed.
Why unemployment figures in India mean little.
Most economists were of the view that the NSSO should release the data, as any move to withhold it will dent the image of country's statistical system.
US job growth increased at a fairly brisk clip in October and the unemployment rate fell to a fresh six-year low of 5.8 per cent, underscoring the economy's resilience in the face of slowing global demand.
Government on Thursday said unemployment rate in the country has declined from 8.3 per cent in 2004-05 to 6.6 per cent in 2009-10 despite global slowdown because of the success of the employment policies.
The Bihar government will provide a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 to unemployed graduate youths for two years under the 'Mukhyamantri Nishchay Swayam Sahayta Bhatta Yojana'. This scheme has been expanded from intermediate-passed youth to include graduates.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant and eight other major corporations have been questioned by US Senators for filing thousands of H-1B skilled labour visa petitions after conducting "mass layoffs" of American employees.
Macroeconomic data announcements, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors would be major driving factors for market movement this week, analysts said. Unabated capital infusion by domestic institutional investors have supported the positive trend in the stock market last week, traders said.
Employment in urban areas in the first quarter of 2024-25 (FY25) improved over the previous one. The unemployment rate in April-June (Q1) declined to 6.6 per cent from a four-quarter high of 6.7 per cent in January-March FY24 owing to the fall in the male unemployment rate, according to the quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data, released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday.
The Delhi High Court has stated that the amount of interim maintenance for a spouse cannot be determined with mathematical precision, while hearing a case to enhance a woman's interim maintenance.
The unemployment rate shot up to a record 10.9 per cent in the week that ended on December 18, points out Mahesh Vyas.
'The youth is stressed and students are depressed.'
The share of suicides was highest among daily wage earners, followed by housewives, unemployed and students.
'The government should come back as a job creator as it did in the 1960s and the 1970s.'
A bill to repeal the MGNREGA and introduce a new rural employment law, the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), has been circulated among Lok Sabha members.
Among Sensex firms, Tata Motors rose the most by 3.97 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra jumped by 3.96 per cent. Maruti, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance and UltraTech Cement were also among the gainers. However, Trent declined 3.81 per cent. Asian Paints, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, L&T, TCS, Power Grid and Sun Pharma were also among the laggards.
Latest data from the Paris-based OECD, a grouping of mostly developed nations, showed that jobless rate in the region slipped to 8.2 per cent in February - the fourth consecutive monthly decline.
A string of welfare schemes and promises tests the state's budget, which is already heavily dependent on central support and spends little as capital outlay.
May 2021 will end with double-digit unemployment rate, falling employment rate and substantial loss of employment, points out Mahesh Vyas.
China's ruling Communist Party is holding its annual leadership conclave to discuss the new five-year plan, the impact of US President Donald Trump's tariff war, and the ongoing anti-corruption crackdown in the military.
In tackling India's unemployment problem, look beyond the finance minister and focus on the education minister, points out Gurbachan Singh.
'When you compare Bihar's poverty from its earlier times, then there is a huge difference. Things have improved a lot. And migration has played an important role in reducing poverty.'
'The BJP only talks of Kashmiri Pandits when elections are held.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances