Unemployment rate reduced to 3.2 percent, jobs and skill development are the first priority: Economic Survey

Labor market indicators have improved significantly in the last six years, due to which the unemployment rate came down to 3.2 percent in the financial year 2022-23. This information has been given in the Economic Survey 2023-24 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday.

India’s estimated workforce is 56.5 crores. Of this, 45 percent people are employed in agriculture, 11.4 percent in manufacturing, 28.9 percent in services and 13 percent in the construction sector.

The survey estimates that the Indian economy needs to generate about 78.51 lakh jobs annually in the non-agricultural sector to employ the growing workforce.

The survey said that the government has taken several steps to increase employment and self-employment. Along with this, the welfare of the employees has been promoted. The service sector has been at the forefront in creating jobs. Employment opportunities have also increased in the construction sector due to the government’s emphasis on infrastructure.

Based on the population estimates of the United Nations, the working age population (15 to 59 years) in India will continue to grow till 2044. It is estimated that 51.25 percent of the youth are employable. In other words, one in every two youth is still not employable, the survey note said. However, this figure has increased from 34 percent to 51.3 percent in the last decade.

The reason for the increase in this figure is the skill development program ‘Skill India’ run by the government. The survey said that the focus of policies in the short to medium term is to create employment and skill development opportunities, utilize the full potential of the agriculture sector, identify bottlenecks in the MSME sector, expand the corporate bond market, remove inequality and improve the quality of health of the young population.