The Ministry of Labour and Employment on Friday said that the unemployment rate aged over 15 showed a declining trend in both rural and urban areas for the last few years. The ministry said it in a written reply to queries of the Rajya Sabha member Kartikeya Sharma.
The data was collected through Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18. The survey period is July to June of the next year. As per the latest available Annual PLFS report, the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above during 2018-19 to 2020-21 is as follows:
| UnemploymentRate(UR)(in%) | |||
| Rural | |||
| Years | Male | Female | Total |
| 2018-19 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| 2019-20 | 4.5 | 2.6 | 3.9 |
| 2020-21 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 3.3 |
| Urban | |||
| Years | Male | Female | Total |
| 2018-19 | 7.0 | 9.8 | 7.6 |
| 2019-20 | 6.4 | 8.9 | 6.9 |
| 2020-21 | 6.1 | 8.6 | 6.7 |
| AllIndia | |||
| Years | Male | Female | Total |
| 2018-19 | 6.0 | 5.1 | 5.8 |
| 2019-20 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 4.8 |
| 2020-21 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.2 |