PERIODIC
LABOUR FORCE SURVEY (PLFS) - REPORTS AND INDICES
News: Unemployment rate declined, says
Centre’s survey
What's
in the news?
●
The latest findings from the Periodic
Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the National Sample Survey Office
(NSSO), reveal a decrease in India’s unemployment rate for the period between
April and June 2023.
●
This encouraging trend is accompanied by
improvements in the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) and the
Worker-Population Ratio (WPR), signifying positive shifts in the country’s labour
market.
Periodic
Labour Force Survey:
●
The National
Statistical Organisation (NSO) launched PLFS in April 2017.
Objective:
●
To collect comprehensive labour market
data in India.
Released
by:
·
NSO, Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation (MoSPI), Government of India.
Age
Group - The
survey focused on individuals aged 15 years and above.
Features:
●
It released data about the unemployment
rate for both rural and urban annually.
●
On the basis of PLFS, a quarterly bulletin
is brought out giving estimates of labour force indicators.
○
Unemployment
rate: The unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of
unemployed persons in the labour force.
○
Worker
Population Ratio: WPR is defined as the percentage of
employed persons in the population.
○
Labor
Force Participation Rate: The percentage of persons in the labour
force (that is, working or seeking work or available for work) in the
population.
●
Distribution of workers by broad status in
employment and industry of work in CWS.
●
The present Quarterly Bulletin is the
sixteenth in the series for the quarter of July–September 2022.
Two
PLFS approaches:
1.
Usual Status (US):
●
In this approach, the survey ascertains
whether a person had been employed for enough days in 365 days preceding the
survey.
2.
Current Weekly Status (CWS):
●
In this, the survey tries to figure out
whether a person was adequately employed in the seven days preceding the
survey.
Categories:
●
Employment status, unemployment rate,
sector-wise employment, income, demographics, and more.
Methodology:
●
Sample survey approach with data collected
from households and individuals through a scientific sampling process.
Significance:
●
Informs government policies related to
employment, labour market interventions and economic planning.
Findings
of the Report:
1.
Improvements in Urban Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR):
●
The LFPR in urban areas exhibited growth,
rising from 47.5% in April-June 2022 to 48.8% in the corresponding months of
2023 for individuals aged 15 years and above.
2.
Gender Disparities:
●
While the LFPR remained stable at
approximately 73.5% for males during this period, it notably increased for
females, climbing from 20.9% to 23.2%.
3.
Enhanced Worker-Population Ratio (WPR):
●
In urban areas, the WPR increased from
43.9% in April-June 2022 to 45.5% during the same period in 2023 for
individuals aged 15 years and above.
4.
Gender-Specific Improvements:
●
For males, the WPR progressed from 68.3%
to 69.2%, and for females, it surged from 18.9% to 21.1% over this timeframe.
5.
Decrease in Unemployment Rate:
●
The PLFS reported a diminishing trend in
the Unemployment Rate (UR) for individuals aged 15 years and above in urban
areas.
●
It decreased from 7.6% in April-June 2022
to 6.6% in April-June 2023 for urban areas.
●
For males, the UR dropped from 7.1% to
5.9%, while for females, it decreased from 9.5% to 9.1% during this period.
Comparative
Analysis:
1.
Positive Trends:
●
The report highlights improvements in key
labour market indicators in urban areas when compared to the pre-pandemic
period (April-June 2018 to October-December 2019).
2.
LFPR Improvement:
●
The LFPR ranged from 46.2% to 47.8% during
the pre-pandemic period and has now reached 48.8%.
3.
WPR Enhancement:
●
Pre-pandemic WPR figures ranged from 41.8%
to 44.1%, while the current WPR stands at 45.5%.
4.
Lower UR:
●
Unemployment rates during the pre-pandemic
period fluctuated between 7.8% and 9.7%, with the latest survey reporting a
lower UR of 6.6%. This rate is deemed favourable compared to the unemployment
rates observed in the quarters preceding the pandemic.