The National Statistical Office (NSO) has released data related to employment of the districts of the country for the first time. These figures are exposing unemployment. The data clearly shows that in which district the maximum number of people are working and in which district the maximum number of youth are neither studying. There are many districts where the youth are neither engaged in employment nor taking training.
This data has been released under the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS), in which Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Unemployment Rate (UR) and Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) rate have been assessed for the first time at the district level.
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Why are these figures special?
For the first time, at the level of each district, it has been calculated how many people are willing to work (LFPR), how many are actually getting work (WPR) and how many are roaming unemployed (UR). The number of such youth has also been estimated who are neither doing any job nor involved in any study or training (NEET).
Among the 100 most populous districts of the country, Surat city of Gujarat remained at the forefront in terms of employment participation, while Darbhanga of Bihar remained at the back. Whereas in terms of youth unemployment, Ernakulam of Kerala was found to be in the best position.
Surat leads in employment
Among the 100 most populous districts of the country, Surat in Gujarat was the state with the highest Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among people aged 15 years and above. Like here it has been recorded at 68.6 percent. In Araria of Bihar this rate is 68.0 percent and in Salem of Tamil Nadu this rate is 67.8 percent.
Surat also remained at the forefront in terms of Worker Population Ratio (WPR). Here this rate is 67.8 percent. In Araria of Bihar this rate is 67.4 percent and in Banaskantha of Gujarat this rate is 66.6 percent. Among these 100 districts, Darbhanga of Bihar is at the lowest position on both the parameters.
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Which districts are in better position in terms of unemployment rate?
South 24 Parganas of West Bengal and Araria of Bihar have the lowest unemployment rates. This rate is 0.09 percent in South 24 Parganas and also 0.09 percent in Araria. In Ahmedabad, Gujarat this rate is 1.1 percent.
The top 10 districts with lowest unemployment rate also include districts like Surat, Banaskantha of Gujarat, Bareilly, Bulandshahr of Uttar Pradesh and Palghar and Nanded of Maharashtra.
If seen across the country, the unemployment rate in about 43.1 percent districts was between 0.5 percent and 3 percent. In 34.7 percent districts it was between 3 percent and 5.5 percent. Only 14.9 percent districts recorded unemployment rate of more than 5.5 percent.
Where is there more work, where are the youth looking for jobs?
If we look at the figures of Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Surat city of Gujarat is at the forefront in terms of willingness to work and search for job. Here 68.6 percent youth are looking for employment. In Araria of Bihar this figure is 68 percent and in Salem of Tamil Nadu this figure is 67.8 percent.
In these cities, most of the people above 15 years of age are engaged in work or want to work instead of sitting at home. In terms of how many people actually have work, Surat city is at the first position with 67.8 percent. The figure in Araria is 67.4 percent, while Banaskantha city of Gujarat is at third place with 66.6 percent.
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Where are the least unemployed?
Unemployment figures are low in South Parganas 24 of West Bengal and Araria of Bihar. Only 0.09 percent people are unemployed here. Ahmedabad is at third place with 1.1 percent. Talking about youth aged between 15 to 29 years, Ernakulam in Kerala has the least number of youth sitting idle. This figure is 9.6 percent.
More than 90 percent of the youth of Ernakulam are either studying, learning some skill or doing jobs. After this is Coimbatore city of Tamil Nadu. Here this rate is 14.5 percent. This rate is 15 percent in Bengaluru city, where fewer youth are sitting idle.
Where is the situation better in the districts of state capitals?
If we look at the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR), the LFPR rate in Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, is 70.0 percent and the Worker Population Ratio (WPR) is 65.1. Shimla is at the forefront in terms of willingness to work and actual employment among the state capital districts. Here out of every 100 people aged 15 years and above, 70 are ready to work and about 65 people are actually employed. In Thiruvananthapuram, out of every 100 people, about 64 are willing for work and 63 are getting work.
In Raipur, out of every 100 people, about 61 are ready to work and 59 people have work. In terms of unemployment, the situation in Thiruvananthapuram and Kolkata seems to be the best. Out of every 1,000 people willing to work in these two places, only 19 people are unemployed, which means the unemployment rate is 1.9 percent.
In Bengaluru urban, out of every 1,000 people seeking work, 25 are vacant, which means the unemployment rate is 2.5 percent. Talking about the youth aged between 15 to 29 years who are out of education, employment or training, about 14 out of every 100 youth in Srinagar are without work or study. In Bengaluru urban, 15 out of every 100 youth in this age group are unemployed. In Guntur too, about 15 out of every 100 youth are sitting out of work or studies.
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Where are women getting more work?
According to the data selected from among the 10 most populous districts of the states, Hamirpur of Himachal Pradesh remained at the forefront in terms of labor force participation rate of women, where this rate was recorded at 80.9 percent. Mayurbhanj of Odisha stood at 71.8 percent and Budgam of Jammu and Kashmir stood at 71.4 percent.
The best figure in Maharashtra was from Ahmednagar district, where the labor force participation rate of women was found to be 51.9 percent. In contrast, the labor force participation rate of women in Siwan, Bihar was 24.7 percent. This rate was lowest in East Delhi district of Delhi at 18.9 percent.
What changes has NSO made?
According to NSO, the sampling method of Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) survey has been changed from January 2025. Now the district has been made the base unit. Earlier, the survey was done on the basis of National Sample Survey (NSS) region, due to which it was not possible to extract data at the district level. NSO has clarified that this data is being released for the first time, hence it would not be right to compare it with the earlier NSS-region based data.