Job scenario brightens: Employment rate recovers to pre-2nd wave level

Chennai: Employment rate has bounced back to pre-second wave levels after slowing down during the lockdown months. Increase in the participation of labour in the market has helped the recovery, according to CMIE.

CMIE's Consumer Pyra-mids Household Survey indicates that a V-shaped recovery is underway again after the second wave of Covid-19 that struck India in April.

Weekly estimates show that the employment rate had touched 38.5 per cent in the week ended March 28 before the second wave descended. Then onwards the job rate had been falling consistently. The employment rate fell to 36.8 per cent in April 2021 and then further to 35.3 per cent in May. It fell to 33.6 per cent by the week ended May 23, 2021 and remained close to 34 per cent in the following two weeks.

However, the recovery since then has been quick. Half of the recovery was achieved in the first week ended June 13 when the employment rate sprung back to 36.3 per cent. The remaining recovery came relatively gradually during July. As of the week ended July 25, the employment rate was 38.2 per cent, just a little short of the 38.5 per cent level in the week ended March 28.

Month-wise also, the July 2021 employment rate got closer to the March rate of 37.6 per cent.

"This is promising. The optimism stems from the rising labour participation rate (LPR)," said Mahesh Vyas, CEO of CMIE.

The LPR rose to 41.1 per cent in the week ended July 25. It was at 40 per cent or lower in the preceding three months. The steady rise of the LPR through most of July implies a greater demand for jobs. And, most of this demand is being met.

The unemployment rate too fell during the first four weeks ending in July. It was 7.3 per cent in the week ended July 4 but fell to 6 per cent in the week ended July 18.