-Newsclick.in The share of the working-age population that is actually working is still less than in pre-pandemic times. The latest data on unemployment has been met with optimism, and near-celebration, especially in the mainstream media, which is straining at the leash to portray some good news about the economy under the Narendra Modi government. September’s unemployment rate fell to 6.43% from August’s 8.3%, according to the Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)—both...

-The India Forum There has been an increase in economic inequality in India over the past few decades, with the rich-poor gaps among the largest of several peer economies. Household surveys show that alongside the slowdown of growth in recent years, there appears to have been some decrease in inequality. 1. Introduction Popular discussions on inequality in India receive periodic attention with the annual publication of reports by the World Inequalities Database (WID),...

Is India going to face inflation in cereal prices during the rest of the current financial year? Experts differ on this. An analysis by Nomura Global Economics and CEIC finds that a below normal monsoon does not always translate into high retail inflation in food. Similarly, an above normal southwest monsoon does not always bring down the rate of food inflation. However, some agricultural experts (please click here, here and...

-The Hindu There is an urgent need for widespread surveys of poor rural women and how they spend their time The Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) reported that the labour participation rate of rural women was 9.92% in March 2022 compared to 67.24% for men. This is a cause for concern. According to CMIE, millions who left the labour market stopped looking for employment “possibly [because they were] too disappointed with...

-Newsclick.in This is in contrast to estimated 84% of Indian families reporting decline in their earnings due to pandemic related lockdowns and restrictions. The trend was visible from last year but the scale of profits reported by listed companies after the last financial year ended in March this year is nothing short of mind-boggling. According to latest data by CMIE or Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy, companies listed at the BSE (formerly...