What are current Unemployment Rate, LFPR and Worker Population Ratio in India?

The latest available data / trends on unemployment in India is available in Fifth Annual Employment – Unemployment Survey (2015-16) conducted by Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour & Employment. This survey collects and disseminates the data through USP (Usual Principal Status) approach according to which those who have spent at least 183 days in last 365 days as a part of labour force.

Current Unemployment Rate

During 2015-16, India’s unemployment rate was 5%. This was 4.9% in 2013-14.  The rural-urban, male-female divide is shown in below table:

The above table also makes it clear that unemployment rate is marginally higher (5.1%) in rural areas in comparison to urban areas (4.9%).  Unemployment rate was significantly higher among females as compared to males. At the All India level, the female unemployment rate was estimated to be 8.7 per cent, whereas for males it was 4.0 per cent.

Labour Force Participation Rate

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is defined as the number of persons in the labour force per 1000 persons.

According to Fifth Annual Employment – Unemployment Survey (2015-16), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) was estimated to be 50.3 per cent at the All India level. This implies that 50.3 per cent of the persons aged 15 years and above were either working or seeking work during the reference period. In the rural sector, the LFPR was estimated to be 53 per cent whereas in the urban sector the LFPR was 43.5 per cent under. Female LFPR was significantly lower as compared to LFPR among males. At the All India level, female LFPR was estimated to be 23.7 per cent as compared to 75 per cent for males and 48 per cent for Transgenders.

Worker Population Ratio

Worker Population Ratio (WPR) is defined as the number of persons employed per 1000 persons.

According to Fifth Annual Employment – Unemployment Survey (2015-16), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) was estimated to be 47.8 per cent at the All India level. Thus, 47.8 per cent of the persons aged 15 years & above were reported to be employed during this period. In rural sector, the WPR was estimated to be 50.4 per cent under the UPS approach as compared to 41.4 per cent in the urban sector. The female WPR was estimated to be 21.7 per cent at the All India level under the UPS approach as compared to the male WPR of 72.1 per cent and 45.9 per cent for Transgenders.

Other important facts on employed-unemployed

• Majority of the employed persons are self employed in India. At the All India level, 46.6 per cent of the workers were found to be self employed followed by by 32.8 per cent as casual labour. Only 17 per cent of the employed persons were wage/salary earners and the rest 3.7 per cent were contract workers.
• Employed persons are further classified on the basis of economic activity pursued by them. The survey results show that majority of the persons were employed in the primary sector. At the All India level, 46.1 per cent of the persons were estimated to be employed under Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector, followed by 32 percent in tertiary sector and 21.8 percent in the secondary sector.
• At the All India level, a majority 67.5 per cent of the self employed workers had average monthly earnings up to Rs 7500. Only 0.1 per cent of the self employed were estimated to have earnings above Rs 1 lakh.