The unemployment rate in India rose to 7.83% in April from 7.57% in March, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy released on Monday.
Unemployment hit urban areas more than rural regions. While the rate of unemployment in the country’s urban areas was 9.22% in April, it was recorded at 7.18% in rural regions for the same month.
In March, the rate of joblessness was 8.28% in urban India and 7.29% in rural areas, data showed.
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy calculates the unemployment rate in India to provide estimates of the country’s workforce based on a panel size of over 1.78 lakh households.
The data showed that the unemployment rate in April was the highest in Haryana at 34.5%. This was followed by Rajasthan at 28.8%, Bihar at 21.2% and Jammu and Kashmir at 15.6%.
Data published by the think tank in March showed that unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir had touched 25%. This was the second highest unemployment rate in the country – Haryana led with 26.7% – and well above the national average of 7.6% for the same month.
In April, Himachal Pradesh saw the lowest unemployment rate at 0.2%, followed by Chhattisgarh at 0.6%, Assam at 1.2%, Odisha at 1.5% and Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh at 1.6% each.
According to 2021 data from the World Bank, only 43% of India’s working age population has a job. The figure is lower than that of Bangladesh at 54%. Even Pakistan manages to do better at 48%.
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