India’s unemployment rate has shot up to 7.86% in October (30 day average up to 19 October) from 6.43% in September, reports The New Indian Express, citing data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The spike was driven by rural unemployment at 8.01% (up from 5.84% the previous month). Urban joblessness also remained high at 7.53%, but slightly lower than last month’s 7.7% rate. According to Mahesh Bhatt, chief business officer at TeamLease Services, erratic rainfalls and tightening financial conditions have led to muted economic activities, which in turn affected rural employment prospects.

Other experts blame macroeconomic factors. “The looming fears of a recession in the US market have created a panic among many IT companies. As a safeguard against decreasing demand for new projects and a volatile future they have frozen new hirings,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director and CEO of Ciel HR Services. He added that the joining dates of freshers are also getting pushed, pushing up unemployment rates. CEOs of IT firms have given cautious outlooks during Q2 results, while clients are taking time to seal bigger deals.