Economic Survey 2023-24: Labour Force Participation, Skill Gap, Women And Youth Employment

Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2023-24 in the parliament today, July 22. The economic survey is a comprehensive annual report of the Indian economy that underscores India’s economic status in the previous years. The document is prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs of the Finance Ministry under the guidance of India’s Chief Economic Advisor (CEA). The economic survey will be followed by the Budget announcement on July 23.

Economic Survey provides government economic performance, major development programs, and policy initiatives and also provides an outlook for the upcoming financial year.

Economic Survey 2023-24: Employment Scenario

• As per the Annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) by the National Statistical Organisation, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MosPI), the annual unemployment rate has witnessed a declining trend. The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) and worker-to-population ratio (WPR) have seen an upward trend.
• The quarterly urban unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above has declined to 6.7% from 6.8% in the last year.

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• As per the PLFS and MoHFW’s projections India’s workforce is estimated to be nearly 56.5 crore in 2022-23.
• 45% of the workforce is employed in agriculture, 28.9 in service sector, 11.4% in manufacturing and 13 in construction.
• 57.3% of the total workforce is self-employed and 18.3% is working as unpaid workers in household enterprises.
• Casual labor comprises 21.8% of the total workforce and regular wage or salaried workers are 20.9% of the total workforce.

Economic Survey 2023-24: Youth and Female Employment

• As per PLFS, the youth (age 15-29 years) unemployment rate has reduced from 17.8% to 10% in the last 5 years.
• The Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) has increased in the last 6 years. Rural FLFPR has witnessed a steep rise of 16.9%.

Employment in Factories 

• More than 40% of the factory employment was in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Whereas the highest employment rate was observed in Chhattisgarh, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
• Organised manufacturing landscape is dominated by smaller factories (employing <100 employees). However, employment has been rising in large factories than the smaller ones.

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• The food products industry remained largest in terms of providing employment followed by textiles, primary metals, wearing apparel and motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers.

Skill Gaps

• As per the survey, 65% of India’s fast growing population is under 35 and only 51.25% of the youth is deemed employable. Means about 1 in 2 graduates are not readily employable. However, the situation has improved from 34% to 51.3% in the last decade.