Unemployment Rate Eases To 11% In June From 23.5% In May: Think-Tank CMIE

India's unemployment rate in June fell to 11 per cent from 23.5 per cent in the previous month, according to data released by private think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) on Wednesday as economic activities resumed after government eased COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. According to the data, unemployment rate in urban areas for the month of June stood at 12.02 per cent, while that in rural areas was recorded at 10.52 per cent. The number of employed people in the country in June stood at 37.3 crore, as per the CMIE data, while those looking for jobs are 46.1 crore. 

Haryana has the highest unemployment rate of 33.6 per cent, followed by Tripura at 21.3 per cent and Jharkhand at 21 per cent.

"The unemployment rate has declined and simultaneously, the participation rate has recovered to close-to pre-lockdown period," CMIE Managing Director and CEO Mahesh Vyas said in a release.

Mr Vyas said the reason behind the improvement in the unemployment rate across rural India can be explained by the rise in MGNREGA spending by the government, and increase in kharif sowing.

In April, the first month of coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown, CMIE had said that unemployment rate in the country spiked to an all-time high of 27.1 per cent.