India’s unemployment rate increased to 6.9 per cent in February 2021 from 6.53 per cent in the previous month, according to the latest data released by the private think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The data showed that the unemployment rate in urban areas declined despite a rise in joblessness rate on a national level. The rural areas, however, saw a surge in unemployment during the month under review. The urban unemployment rate dropped to 6.99 in February from 8.08 in January 2021, while the rural unemployment rate rose to 6.86 per cent from 5.83 per cent in the previous month.

Among the states, Haryana reported the highest unemployment rate of 26.4 per cent, followed by Rajasthan at 25.6 per cent and Goa at 21.1 per cent. Assam has the lowest unemployment rate of 1.6 per cent, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 2.1. The 30-day moving average of the unemployment rate was 7 per cent as of February 28, 2021, CMIE data showed.

The unemployment rate has been volatile in the past six months as it has ranged from a low of 6.5 per cent in November 2020 to a high of 9.1 per cent in December 2020. The average unemployment rate during this six-month period was somewhat high at about 7.4 per cent. The high monthly volatility of unemployment in normal times reflects the high proportion of informal employment in India.