Tue. Mar 19th, 2024
Workforce in India

About 20 million engaged again into employment in May as the federal government eased the national lockdown to counter Covid-19 pandemic situation according to an update by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

The employment rate was up 2% in May to 29% from 27% in April. CMIE had estimated 122 million people had lost their jobs due to nationwide lockdown since March 25, CMIE report said.

“This two percentage point increase implies that about 20 million people may have been added to the count of those that are employed,” CMIE said, adding implicitly that the loss of 122 million in April may have narrowed down to 102 million in May. “If 20 million jobs have indeed been repaired, we have made significant progress. But, the remaining challenge is five times larger at 102 million,” it added.

According to CMIE, the weekly estimates of May suggest that there is a migration of labour from the ‘willing but not looking for jobs’ category to the ‘willing and looking for jobs category’. “The discouraged workers seem to be coming back to look for jobs. This is good news,” CMIE said, adding that weekly data also suggests that this influx into the labour markets is succeeding in finding jobs.

CMIE, in the normal course, conducts a multi-stratified survey using a monthly sample size of 1,17,000 individuals who are visited in person and interviewed. However, since the lockdown, the sample size has been reduced to 11,000-12,000 individuals and people are being interviewed over phone.

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