Joblessness lowest in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat: PLFS data

NEW DELHI: Kerala had one of the highest youth unemployment rates among states and Union Territories while Madhya Pradesh recorded the lowest followed by Gujarat, official jobs data released by statistics office showed.
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released on Monday showed Kerala had an unemployment rate of 29.9% in the 15-29 years age group with the joblessness rate among females at 47.1% and males at 19.3%.

The PLFS data showed the unemployment rate in the country for those in the 15 years and above category remained unchanged at 3.2% in 2023-24, while joblessness rate for females inched up to 3.2% from 2.9% in the previous year.
Youth unemployment was in double digits at 10.2% with the rate among females at 11% and those for males at 9.8%. The joblessness rate for those in the 15-29 age group in 2022-23 was at 10%.
Joblessness among the youth has been a problem for policymakers prompting several measures to create employment . Experts have said 7% plus economic growth is not creating enough jobs.
The UT of Lakshadweep topped the list with the highest unemployment rate in the 15-29 years age category recording a rate of 36.2% with joblessness among females at 79.7% and males at 26.2%. This was followed by another UT-Andaman & Nicobar Island with an unemployment rate of 33.6%. Joblessness rate among females was at 49.5% and males at 24%.
Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh also recorded high youth unemployment rates while Goa had a rate of 19.1%. The data also showed that 24 states and UTs had a double digit joblessness rate in the July 2023-June 2024 period.
In urban areas, overall youth unemployment rate was at 14.7% while in rural areas it was lower at 8.5%. The overall joblessness rate among females in urban areas was at 20.1% while in rural segment was at 8.2% .