Urban unemployment rate at 20.8% in the April-June quarter 2020

July 20, 2021

On July 19, 2021, Labour minister Bhupender Yadav has said that Urban India witnessed an unemployment rate of 20.8% in the quarter of April-June 2020. This period witnessed stringent nationwide lockdown to arrest the spread of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Key Points

Urban joblessness in the country had hit a high of 20.8% in the April-June 2020 quarter, especially since the country was under two months of hardcore lockdown.
According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Quarterly bulletin April-June 2020, quarterly unemployment rate for the quarters ending July-Sep 2019, Oct-Dec 2019, Jan-March 2020 and April-June 2020 were 8.3%, 7.8%, 9.1% and 20.8% respectively.
The ministry has also mentioned that the complete employment or unemployment situation of the country can only be assessed only from the survey data for the full year covering both the urban and rural areas.
The annual PLFS data is available up to the year 2018-19. As per that result, the unemployment rate in the country during 2017-18 and 2018-19 was 6.0% and 5.8%, respectively.
The ministry has also said that the government has undertaken numerous initiatives to boost jobs in India through the implementation of schemes like the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana.

Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana

This scheme is being implemented by the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). For the companies having up to 1000 employees the government will pay both the employees’ contribution (12%) and the employers’ contribution (12%) i.e. 24% of the wages towards Employee Provident Fund. For the companies having more than 1000 employees, the government will pay only the employees’ share of EPF contribution which is 12% towards Employee Provident Fund. This will be done for a period of 2 years.

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