Migrant workers in Ahmedabad stand in a queue to board a train that will take them to UP, their home state (Re…Read More
NEW DELHI: A jobs crisis may be staring the country in the face as several crucial sectors of the economy have been severely impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak threatening to push more people into poverty, engulfing both formal and informal sector workers.
The lockdown triggered a massive wave of migration across the country and shut down units across sectors such as small, medium and micro enterprises, hotels, restaurants, cinema halls, malls, multiplexes, airlines, manufacturing units, shops and market. This has led to job cuts as firms scampered to deal with the emergency.
The latest monthly data from economic think tank CMIE showed that India’s unemployment rate shot up to 23.5% in April. Among large states, unemployment was highest in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, and Bihar at 49.8%, 47.1%, and 46.6% respectively. It was lowest in Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana at 2.9%, 3.4%, and 6.2%, the CMIE survey results showed. The latest figures for the week upto May 3 showed the unemployment rate hit 27.1%, the highest so far, according to the CMIE jobs survey.
“The estimated loss of employment between March and April 2020 is 114 million. Given that the total count of employed is around 400 million, the