Employment emerges as a critical election issue, particularly in light of the recent ILO report indicating that 83 percent of India’s unemployed workforce comprises youth.
According to ANI’s analysis of government data from five distinct sources, there has been a notable increase in job opportunities during the past several years under the Modi administration. Data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), EPFO, RBI, National Career Services (NCS) portal, and various government job-intensive schemes all indicate a rise in employment and a decrease in the unemployment rate. Over the last six years, PLFS data shows a positive trend in both labor participation rates and worker population ratios. Employment has risen from 46.8 percent in 2017-18 to 56 percent in 2022-23, while labor force participation has increased from 49.8 percent to 57.9 percent during the same period.
The unemployment rate has dropped from 6 percent to 3.2 percent from 2017-18 to 2022-23, with a 3.1 percent growth in worker population ratio compared to a labor force participation rate of 2.7 percent, indicating a surplus of jobs relative to demand. In rural areas, unemployment rates have fallen from 5.3 percent in 2017-18 to 2.4 percent in 2022-23, while in urban areas, they have decreased from 7.7 percent to 5.4 percent during the same timeframe. Additionally, there has been a significant decline in the unemployment rate among females, from 5.6 percent in 2017-18 to 2.9 percent in 2022-23. Among youth, the unemployment rate has decreased from 17.8 percent to 10 percent over the same period.
