Unemployment rate is at its highest peak in last 50 Years in India.
According to economist Vivek Kaul explains what this means and why it matters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which is accused of withholding the findings months before the general election.
What does the report say?
It says that India has a jobs problem.
The country’s unemployment rate – 6.1% – is the highest it has been since 1972-73, the earliest year for which comparable data is available. This is according to the latest employment survey, which was leaked to The Business Standard newspaper after the government refused to release it.
On its own, an unemployment rate of 6.1% may not sound too dire, until you consider that in 2011-12, it was just 2.2%. And it’s particularly high among people between 15 and 29 years – in urban India, 18.7% of men and 27.2% of women in this age group are looking for jobs, while in rural India, its 17.4% and 13.6% respectively
How significant is it?

Over the years, the story of India’s economic growth has been sold on the basis of its massive and young workforce – people under the age of 35 make up 65% of the population. The idea was that 10 to 12 million young people would enter the workforce every year. As they started earning and spending, growth would accelerate and this would pull millions more out of poverty.
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But, as the survey shows, the unemployment rate among young people is very high. Nearly one in every five is unable to find a job. India’s so-called demographic dividend is nowhere in sight.

This timing of this finding – just months ahead of a general election – makes it all the more significant. The report was approved by India’s national statistics commission. Two of its members resigned earlier this week, citing the government’s alleged refusal to release the report as one of the reasons.
Job creation was a key promise during Mr Modi’s election campaign in 2013.
In early January, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a private institution, had raised the alarm, saying the number of unemployed people has been rising steadily and had reached 11 million by the end of December 2018.