India’s unemployment rate climbed to 7.14% in the week ending 25 July- a rise of 1.16% from the previous week ending 18 July, ,according to new figures released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The national joblessness rate last week stood at 5.98%. The data also showed a sharp rise in the rural unemployment rate to 6.75% from 5.1% the week-ago period. Urban unemployment, however, saw a marginal rise to 8.01 per cent from 7.94 per cent a week ago.
The spike in unemployement in July is relatively better than the previous three months when joblessness increased sharply amid the second wave of Covid-19. Since the beginning of July, the unemployment rate in urban India stayed below 9% while at the national level, it remained under 8%. The monthly national unemployment rate in June was at 9.17 per cent, while it was 10.07 per cent in urban India and 8.75 per cent in rural India.
However, a 7% to 8% unemployment rate in an Indian labour market is high and shows the struggle in the job market. The government, however, does not use CMIE data and nor does it has any fresh data to show the current ground situation.
In yet another development that shows a drop in business activity, the Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI), a widely cited barometer of business expansion, recorded a drop in index from 96.4 in the previous week to 95.3 for the week ending July 25.
On Monday, another widely cited barometer of business expansion, The Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI), dropped to 95.3 for the week ending July 25 from 96.4 in the previous week. A fall in the index represents a dip in business activity. The index was “still at levels prior to the second wave but 4.7 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels”, Nomura, an investment firm which complies the index, stated.
