The overall unemployment rate in India fell to a three-month low of 8.65% in December from 8.88% the previous month, due to sharp drop in rural joblessness, reports The Financial Express, citing data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). During December, the rural unemployment rate fell to 7.97% from 8.68% in November, while the urban unemployment rate increased to a four-month high of 10.08% from 9.31%.

The fall in rural joblessness is also reflected by a 5.8% decline in work demanded by households under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). India’s labour participation rate (LPR), an estimate of active workforce in the economy, stood at a 45-month high of 41.88% in December from 40.92% in November. This was largely a result of the record-high (highest since January 2019) rural LPR of 43.12%. The urban LPR stood at 39.48%, the highest in four months. Meanwhile, on a quarterly basis, the unemployment rate in October-December stood at a 10-quarter high of 9.05% as against 7.85% in July-September and 8.19% in October-December 2022.