India’s urban unemployment rate fell to 7.6 per cent in April-June 2022 quarter, the lowest in four years, as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The unemployment rate in urban areas for persons of age 15 years and above stood at 12.6 percent in April-June 2021 quarter. It has declined consistently in the past four quarters.

The urban unemployment rate fell to 9.8 percent in July-September 2021 quarter. It fell to 8.7 percent in October-December 2021 period and fell further to 8.2 per cent in January-March 2022 quarter.

In the first quarter of the current financial year, the urban unemployment rate fell to 7.6 per cent, registering a decline for the fourth straight quarter. This is the lowest unemployment rate in India since the launch of the Periodic Labour Force Survey.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) gives estimates of key employment and unemployment indicators like the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Unemployment Rate (UR), etc.

At the all-India level, in the urban areas, a total number of 5,721 FSUs (UFS blocks) have been surveyed during the quarter of April – June 2022. The number of urban households surveyed was 44,660 and the number of persons surveyed was 1,73,271 in urban areas, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.

The fieldwork for the collection of information in respect of the samples allotted for the quarter April-June, 2022 was completed by 04.07.2022 for the first visit samples and by 30.06.2022 for revisit samples. Canvassing of revisit schedules is continued to be undertaken in telephonic mode, since June 2020, as per actual reference periods of the samples, the ministry said.

The telephonic mode was initially adopted in order to minimize the physical interaction with informants so as to contain the spread of the COVID virus and to cope up with pandemic-related restrictions. For about 95.40 percent of the revisit schedules for the period April-June, 2022, information was collected over the telephone.

A rotational panel sampling design has been used in urban areas. In this rotational panel scheme, each selected household in urban areas is visited four times, at the beginning with ‘First Visit Schedule’ and thrice periodically later with a ‘Revisit Schedule’. The scheme of rotation ensures that 75 per cent of the first-stage sampling units are matched between two consecutive visits, the ministry added.

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