INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
between January and March this year fell to 9.3 per cent, the lowest in at least four quarters, according to an unpublished government
report reviewed by Reuters
The numbers, recorded in the statistics ministry's quarterly jobs report, could provide some relief to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who
has faced criticism for not being able to create enough jobs amid slowing economic growth
April-June 2018 survey period is not available and the January-March quarter's rate is the lowest since then
The report, which is likely to be published soon, did not assess rural unemployment
The estimates were arrived at using the so-called "current weekly status" method which gives an average picture of unemployment in a short
period of seven days preceding the survey period, the document said.A person is considered as unemployed in a week if he did not work even
for 1 hour during that week
Joblessness among the youth - those aged between 15-29 years and who account for roughly over a third of India's 130 crore people - was
The government has in recent years faced public ire for not releasing comprehensive jobs data regularly
The first extensive annual report for the July 2017-June 2018 period, leaked in February and published in the TheIndianSubcontinent
newspaper, showed unemployment rate was the highest in at least 45 years.PM Modi's government officially released the report in May.That
month, the statistics department also released one set of quarterly urban unemployment reports that revealed data for April to December
2018.The latest report, reviewed by Reuters, contains jobs assessment for the first quarter of this year
The fall in the unemployment rate, by weekly status methodology basis, came as employment among regular wage employees and a section of
self-employed workers increased during the period, the statistics ministry report showed
Still, the labour force participation rate - the percentage of population making up the labour force - which had slowly edged up between
April and December last year, recorded a dip to 36 per cent during the March quarter, the report showed, potentially reflecting weak
economic growth in Asia's third largest economy
India's economic growth fell to an over four-year low of 5.8 per cent in the January-March period.Subsequently, it fell further to 5 per
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