NSSO 5th Annual Report Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)- July 2021 – June 2022

Current Context: The Annual Report Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is a survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) to measure various indicators of labour market activity in India. It covers both rural and urban areas and provides estimates of key labour force indicators at annual and quarterly frequency.

• The survey collects information on demographic characteristics, education status, employment status, industry, occupation, wages and earnings of the surveyed households.
• The survey also captures the impact of various government schemes and programmes on employment generation.
• The report also showed that the labour force participation rate (LFPR) increased to 38.6% in 2021-22 from 37.5% in July 2020-June 2021.
• The report used three approaches to measure employment and unemployment - usual status, current weekly status and current daily status.
• The report faced some challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions, which affected the field work of PLFS in April 2021.
• The unemployment rate (UR) was at a 5-year low of 4.1% in 2021-22, compared to 4.2% in July 2020-June 2021.
• The worker population ratio (WPR) also increased to 37% in 2021-22 from 35.9% in July 2020-June 2021.
• The UR for females was lower than males across rural and urban areas.
• The UR for persons aged above 15 years was higher than those aged below that age group across rural and urban areas.

Question:

Q.1 According to the NSSO’s 5th Annual Report PLFS 2021-22, what was the unemployment rate (UR) in India in July 2021-June 2022?
a. 4.1%
b. 4.2%
c. 7.6%
d. 8.8%