While the unemployment rate in India fell to a four-month low in July, at least 32 lakh people lost their jobs despite an improved economic activity, revealed the latest data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
The data showed that 7.64 crore people had salaried jobs in July 2021 as against 8.6 crore salaried employees in July 2019.
Among the salaried people who lost jobs, 26 lakh were from urban India. This was despite the urban unemployment rate declining to 8.3 percent in July from 10.07 percent in June. The urban joblessness rate was 9.78 percent in April and 14.73 percent in May, the data stated.
The rural unemployment rate fell to 6.34 percent in July from 8.75 percent in June. The rural joblessness rate for March, April, and May was 6.15 percent, 7.13 percent, and 10.63 percent respectively.
In a positive sign, India’s unemployment rate fell to 6.95 percent in July from the June figure of 9.17 percent. In March, the country’s joblessness rate was 6.5 percent; it spiked to 7.97 percent in April and further to 11.9 percent in May, added the report.
The number of small traders and wage labourers increased to more than 3.04 crore in July, 24 lakh more than the June figure. Also, 30 lakh farmers were added in July
Other signs of economic recovery include — an uptick in the sales of diesel and cars. Also, Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections returned to over Rs 1 lakh crore in July as against Rs 92,849 crore in June.
Earlier, the International Monetary Fund forecast India’s GDP growing at 9.5 percent in 2021-22.
