SHAKEELA ANDRABI
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has shown a bit improvement in its monthly unemployment rate percentage as December 2021 recorded 15 per cent of unemployment against 21.2 per cent recorded in November last year.
According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data, the month of December 2021 has recorded 15 per cent of unemployment while percentage was quite higher in November 2021. As per data, unemployment rate in country rose to 7.9 per cent in December 2021 while it was 7 per cent in November. Just a year ago, in December 2020, the unemployment rate was higher at 9.1 per cent. In each of last three months, the unemployment rate remained at 7 per cent or more. The unemployment rate during quarter ended December 2021 was 7.6 per cent while it was just 7.3 per cent in preceding quarter, which ended in September 2021. According to CMIE data, 2021’s annual unemployment rate was recorded 15.69 percent, while year 2020 recorded 15.77 per cent. According to Mahesh Vyas, Managing Director CMIE, eighteen months after the Indian economy was battered by COVID-19-induced lockdown, employment has not recovered to its pre-pandemic levels. In 2019-20, 408.9 million were employed but after that, country has briefly employed just 406 million. “Data from many places show that most people are crossing age to get a government job or have given up their plan to get so,” Mahesh Vyas said in an interview. “Unemployment rate in Uttar Pradesh is just 4 per cent but it does not mean that the State Government has provided jobs to all job seekers, but reality remains that many educated youth who were looking for jobs earlier, have now changed their minds and many others have crossed age-limit to get a government job,” he asserted, adding that these are just statistics about young people looking for job whereas hundreds of millions are there who are no longer looking for a job because they are now tired of the search for a job.
According to experts, it not now clear about Jammu and Kashmir that either 6 to 7 per cent people have got jobs or have given up the idea of employment or crossed the age-limit, as administration has not yet launched any mega employment drive for the last three years.