On the day when Narendra Modi took charge as the Prime Minister for the second consecutive term, the Centre confirmed unemployment rate projected in a pre-election leaked report, saying joblessness in the country was 6.1 per cent of the total labour force during 2017-18, the highest in 45 years. In 2017-18, the year after demonetisation, the unemployment rate stood at 6.1 per cent of the total labour force, according to the data released by the labour ministry. EXPLAINED | What is the fallout of a reduced GDP growth rate The unemployment rate of 6.1 per cent had raised grave concerns over employment scenario in the country under the NDA rule, a couple of months back when the data got leaked ahead of the general elections. The data showed that while 7.8 per cent of all employable urban youth were jobless, the percentage for the rural employable youth was 5.3 per cent. If the joblessness among male on all India basis was 6.2 per cent, that among the females was at 5.7 per cent. What it means? While it raises concern over the employment scenario in the country, it puts an additional onus on the new government to take steps that can lead to significant job creation along with a revival in GDP growth. Incidentally, the GDP growth for the fourth quarter ended March 2019 stood at 5.8 per cent, the lowest in five years.
