Jobless rate lowest in Karnataka after Gujarat: NSO

Karnataka has the lowest unemployment rate among its youths (aged 15-29 years) after Gujarat, according to the quarterly surveys conducted by National Statistical Organisation (NSO) in the past one year since April 2018.

In Karnataka, one in eight youths did not have a job. Only Gujarat did a notch better than Karnataka, where one in 10 people in the age-group of 15-29 years remained unemployed, according to the latest survey conducted in the January-March period this year.

NSO, recently merged with the former National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), conducts its labour force survey once in every three months.

According to its last periodic survey (PLFS), conducted for October-December (2018) period, Karnataka's unemployment rate was 16.4%, which means roughly one in six youths did not have a job at the time of conducting the last survey.

Karnataka's numbers have improved by four percentage points in between January and March to 12.3%, according to the survey.

The state also boasts of a reduction in unemployment of its women at a faster rate than men. The jobless rate among Karnataka women were reduced to 10% in the quarter ending March this year from 20% in December quarter.

The jobless rate among men was reduced to 13% in the latest quarter from 15.5% in December.

In case of Tamil Nadu, the unemployment rate among its young population had worsened to nearly 25% in January-March period from about 21% in the previous quarter.

Kerala was even worse. The state has been unable to lift its youths from joblessness for a long time. It has one of the the worst unemployment rates of above 37% compared to other federal bodies. Above 60% of Kerala's women were unemployed in the quarter ending March from 57.6% in the previous quarter.

In the list of 22 states surveyed, Bihar had the worst unemployment rate of nearly 41% in December quarter but it quickened the process of getting jobs for its youth, correcting its jobless rate to a little above 31% within three months.

The all India unemployment rate remained corrected marginally to 22.5% in March quarter from 23.7% in the previous quarter.