The pace of economic recovery has slowed down again due to the second wave of the Corona pandemic. The unemployment rate has once again registered an increase due to the lockdown being imposed by the states to prevent corona infection. During the week ending June 20, the unemployment rate in the country reached 9.35 percent. Whereas last week it was at 8.7 percent. At the same time, these are much less as compared to 13.62 percent in the first week of June. Let us inform that on 23 May, the unemployment rate in the country had reached a record level of 14.73 percent.
According to data from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate in cities and metros is still higher than in rural areas. During the week ending June 20, the unemployment rate in cities and metros rose to 10.3 percent. Last week it was at 9.7 percent. On the other hand, if we talk about rural areas, then the unemployment rate has increased to 8.92 percent as compared to 8.23 percent last week.
Most of the migrant laborers returned to their homes in 2020 due to the Corona crisis. After the relaxation of the lockdown, the economy appeared to be back on track, but once again the cases of corona are increasing continuously. In such a situation, people want to leave their jobs and reach their homes soon before the lockdown is imposed. This is expected to increase unemployment further.
Industrial production declined due to poor performance of the manufacturing and mining sectors. Retail inflation rose to 5.52 per cent in March due to costlier food items. On the other hand, increasing unemployment will worsen the financial condition of the people.
According to CMIE MD and CEO Mahesh Vyas, the rising unemployment rate in the country shows that most of the people who lost their jobs in recent days due to the Corona pandemic are still looking for employment.