Unemployment rate in the country softened to 7.19 per cent in the week ended August 2 from 8.21 per cent a week ago, with urban unemployment rate moderating to 8.73 per cent from 9.43 per cent and rural unemployment rate easing to 6.47 per cent from 7.66 per cent, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed. The data indicates unemployment rate moderating to the pre-lockdown level in March with the economy opening up gradually after the un-lockdown measures. On a monthly basis as well, unemployment rate continued to moderate. Overall unemployment rate eased to 7.43 per cent in July from a double-digit level of 10.99 per cent in June, with both urban and rural unemployment rates recording a moderation. Urban unemployment rate in July eased to 9.15 per cent from 12.02 per cent in June, while rural unemployment rate eased to 6.66 per cent from 10.52 per cent in June. Unemployment rate in Delhi and Puducherry was recorded higher than 20 per cent. In July, Delhi’s unemployment rate rose to 20.3 per cent from 18.2 per cent a month ago, while that of Puducherry increased to 21.1 per cent from 4.2 per cent in June. Unemployment rate for West Bengal rose to 6.8 per cent in July from 6.5 per cent in June, while that for Rajasthan increased to 15.2 per cent from 13.7 per cent and for Goa to 17.1 per cent from 10.1 per cent. Unemployment rate in July eased for the following states: Haryana (24.5 per cent from 33.6 per cent), Bihar (12.2 per cent from 19.5 per cent), Chhattisgarh (9.0 per cent from 14.4 per cent), Jharkhand (8.8 per cent from 21 per cent), Maharashtra (4.4 per cent from 9.7 per cent), Punjab (10.4 per cent from 16.8 per cent), Tamil Nadu (8.1 per cent from 13.5 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (5.5 per cent from 9.6 per cent).
