Context:
Recently, the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) released the Quarterly Bulletin (January-March 2024) Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
Key Findings
Unemployment Rate (UR):
- Overall UR decreased from 6.8% to 6.7% in urban areas for people aged 15 and above.
- For males, UR increased from 6.0% to 6.1%, while for females UR decreased from 9.2% to 8.5% during the same period.
- UR is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons in the labor force.
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR):
- LFPR in urban areas increased from 48.5% to 50.2% for people aged 15 and above.
- For males LFPR increased from 73.5% to 74.4% during this period, while for females, LFPR increased from 22.7% to 25.6% during this period.
- LFPR is the percentage of persons in the labor force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR):
- WPR for people aged 15 and above increased from 45.2% to 46.9%.
- For males, it increased from 69.1% to 69.8% during this period and Female WPR in urban areas rose from 20.6% to 23.4%, indicating an overall increasing trend.
- WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)
- The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) launched the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017.
- NSSO is the organization under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
- The present Quarterly Bulletin is the twenty-second in the series for the quarter of January – March 2024
The objective of PLFS:
- To estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the ‘Current Weekly Status’ (CWS).
- Current Weekly Status (CWS): The activity status determined based on a reference period of the last 7 days preceding the date of the survey is known as the current weekly status (CWS) of the person.
- To estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both ‘Usual Status’ and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.