n India’s job market landscape, there might have been a glimmer of hope emerging in September 2023. India’s unemployment rate was said to hit a one-year low., according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). In September 2023, India’s overall unemployment rate stood at about 7.09%. This was a decline from August 2023, when it was 8.1%. This is said to mark the lowest unemployment rate recorded since September 2022, one year before.
According to the data, both rural and urban areas were said to have witnessed a decline in unemployment rates. In rural areas, unemployment was said to drop from 7.11% in August 2023 to 6.2% in September 2023. Urban areas were said to experience a drop from 10.09% to 8.94% during the same period. This reduction in unemployment may be particularly noteworthy, considering the backdrop of weak monsoon rains that plagued India in 2023.
Rainfall from June 2023 to September 2023 was said to be about 6% below the long-term average. This monsoon deficiency has, also, led to reports that India may ban sugar exports. It had, also, led to a ban on non-basmati white rice and increased production costs. And the urban job market also exhibited a dip in unemployment. This may be just in time for the festival season in India.
And in an effort to tackle rising unemployment, Indian PM Narendra Modi was said to have distributed about 51,000 appointment letters to new recruits as part of a special employment initiative. It is said that the Indian economy is experiencing heightened activity, with infrastructure development projects underway.
It is said that the construction sector is showing resilience and vitality. Even the retail sector is said to be displaying positive activity, as the festive season approaches. According to one expert, there have been more than 70,000 job openings in the gig economy from July 2023 to August 2023 alone.
