Labour Force Survey has an update. It's a welcome one
India's Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has unveiled a new and improved version of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and, with that, started providing timely data on the state of the labour market. The PLFS was launched in 2017 as an annual survey to replace the quinquennial Employment-Unemployment Surveys. Up until now, apart from the annual picture of India's unemployment, PLFS would provide a quarterly update, but only for urban areas. Last week, the MoSPI shared the first-ever monthly PLFS data — for April. Shifting to a monthly reporting cycle promises a salutary effect on policy evaluation. In the past, timely official data was scarce — to find out the impact on unemployment of, say, a pandemic-induced lockdown or a disruption like demonetisation. Some private agencies, such as the CMIE, have long been providing monthly, and even weekly, data, but such data has been challenged.
The PLFS has been revamped beyond just improving its frequency. For one, the sample design has been improved and the sample size enlarged. The sample size for each round of survey will now be 2,72,304 households — a 2.65 times increase in sample households to be covered in the PLFS compared to the number of sample households covered up to December 2024. The district has been made the primary geographical unit — to ensure sample observations from most of the districts in the PLFS sample, which, in turn, will improve the representativeness of the estimates. Also, notably, the annual reporting period has been aligned to the calendar year, beginning with January 2025 instead of July-June. This shift will enable timely updation of India's labour market statistics in the databases maintained by the international agencies.
These changes in the PLFS's methodology and frequency are welcome. As India's economy grows and seeks global investors, credible and timely data will be non-negotiable. The current data on the Indian labour market leaves a lot to be desired. For instance, according to the April data, while the overall unemployment rate in India is 5.1 per cent, it rises to 6.5 per cent when one looks at urban areas, and to 8.7 per cent when one looks at female unemployment in urban areas. The most worrisome news pertains to youth (15-29 years) unemployment, which stands at 13.8 per cent all-India, rises to 17.2 per cent in urban areas, and further to 23.7 per cent for young urban women.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
9 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Aditya Birla Group's paints unit files antitrust case against Asian Paints
Aditya Birla Group's Indian paints venture has filed an antitrust complaint against market leader Asian Paints for allegedly abusing its market position, three sources said, a case that could lead to a stand off between the two industry rivals. Asian Paints is India's biggest player with a 52% market share, but it has lost some of its dominance after Birla Opus launched in February 2024 and grew rapidly to garner a near 7% market share by March this year, Elara Capital data shows. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has in recent weeks been reviewing a confidential complaint filed by Birla Opus alleging abuse of its position by Asian Paints, said the two sources, who declined to be named as the discussions are private. The CCI is yet to decide if the complaint holds merit and needs a broader probe by its investigations unit, or should be dismissed. One of the sources familiar with the matter said the allegations from Birla say Asian Paints had asked its retail dealers to not stock the rival's products and had warned of restricting their credit facilities if they do so. Birla Opus, the paints arm of the Aditya Birla Group company Grasim, did not respond to Reuters queries. The group is led by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, India's seventh richest person ranked by Forbes. Asian Paints and the CCI did not respond to Reuters queries. Reuters is first to report the antitrust case, details of which - in line with watchdog's policy - are not made public. The first source added that Asian Paints also allegedly told its dealers it will curtail its supplies to them if they put up hoardings of Birla paint products or place them at prominent places. Asian Paints has not been told about the case, according to a source with direct knowledge. But it had received some media queries and has told the CCI in a confidential letter - seen by Reuters - that the company must be allowed fair comment before any decision is taken. "The rapid and substantial growth of Birla Opus demonstrated the absence of any significant barriers to entry or anti-competitive conduct by existing players," Asian Paints letter to the CCI stated. Birla has expanded its paints business in the $9.5 billion sector, starting last year with an investment of $1.2 billion, with five plants operational now. Asian Paints clocked revenues of 294 billion Indian rupees ($3.43 billion) in 2024-25, and has 26 factories globally. In 2022, the CCI closed a case filed by JSW Paints against Asian Paints for abusing its market position, saying it found no contravention of competition laws. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India Today
10 minutes ago
- India Today
Elon Musk's Starlink gets licence to launch in India: Report
Elon Musk's Starlink has received key approval from the Indian government, inching closer to commercial launch, news agency PTI reported quoting sources. This approval clears a major hurdle that had kept the company waiting for nearly two is now the third company to get this kind of licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The other two are Eutelsat's OneWeb and Reliance Jio's satellite arm. This means Starlink can now prepare to offer high-speed internet in India using its satellite network, reported had applied for the licence back in 2022, but the process was delayed due to various concerns, including national security. Meanwhile, Amazon's satellite project, Kuiper, is still waiting for its own approval from the Indian Starlink and Reliance Jio had a difference of opinion over how India should allocate spectrum, the radio waves needed for satellite communication. Jio wanted it to be auctioned, like with mobile networks, while Starlink argued it should be directly assigned without bidding. In the end, the Indian government agreed with Starlink's there's no official statement yet from Starlink or the DoT, this move could bring affordable internet access to remote and rural parts of India where traditional networks struggle to reach. It's a big step for Starlink and could change the internet landscape in the Watch advertisement
Hindustan Times
10 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Vijay Mallya reveals untold story of buying IPL team; Lalit Modi's impressive pitch: 'Lost Mumbai by very small amount'
Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru owner Vijay Mallya opened up about what inspired him to purchase an IPL franchise back in 2008, at a time when T20 cricket was only beginning to gain traction among fans. The decision to introduce a large-scale franchise league model seemed like a bold and risky venture for the BCCI in 2007. Yet, Lalit Modi, the board's vice-president and the league's inaugural chairman, possessed a vision and committed determination to transform it into something extraordinary. Mallya was one of the few high-profile names of the country who got associated with the league from the inaugural edition itself. He bought the Bengaluru-based franchise for USD 111.6 million back in 2008 and named it Royal Challengers Bangalore. The liquor baron, who is accused of defaulting on loans worth several crores from Indian banks, shared how Lalit Modi made an impressive pitch to him for buying an IPL team. Mallya also disclosed that he had placed a bid for the Mumbai franchise but narrowly missed out, with Reliance Industries, led by Mukesh Ambani, ultimately securing the team for USD 111.9 million. "I was very impressed with the pitch that Lalit Modi made to the BCCI committee about this league. He called me one day and said ok, teams are going to be auctioned. Are you going to buy it? So, I bid from three franchises, and I lost Mumbai by a very small amount of money," Mallya said on a podcast with Raj Shamani. Mallya claimed that he saw the cash-rich league as a game-changer for Indian cricket, which is why he decided to make a lucrative bid to get a team. "When I bid for the RCB franchise in 2008, I saw the IPL as a game-changer for Indian cricket. My vision was to create a team that embodied the spirit of Bangalore—vibrant, dynamic, glamorous," he added. Mallya said that his vision was to give the franchise a bold identity by associating it with one of their top-selling liquor brands, and named it Royal Challengers Bangalore. "I paid $112 million, the second-highest bid, because I believed in the potential. I wanted RCB to be a brand that stood for excellence, not just on the field but off it too. That's why I tied it to Royal Challenge, one of our top-selling liquor brands, to give it that bold identity," he added.
