The recently released quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data broadly confirms the dip in employment and jobs during the countrywide lockdown period, followed by a certain degree of recovery in the post-lockdown months last year as have been indicated by various survey-based studies and research papers. The quarterly bulletin on PLFS provides data on key employment and unemployment indicators i.e. Unemployment Rate (UR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Labour...

-The Hindu The case for reservations for women and transgender persons in State jobs and higher education The Bihar government recently announced 33% horizontal reservation for women in State engineering and medical colleges. While reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) is referred to as vertical reservation, horizontal reservation refers to the equal opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries, such as...

-The Hindu There is evidence to suggest that the PLFS data may underestimate the loss of earnings and fall in consumption The third annual round of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data conducted during July 2019-June 2020 was released recently. The PLFS captures key indicators of the labour market such as the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) — the proportion of population working or seeking work; worker-population ratio (WPR) — the...

-The Telegraph Trying to make labour force survey results look artificially attractive by the government may only be an attempt at self-deception  The latest Periodic Labour Force Survey data for July 2019 to June 2020 released by the Central government shows a rise in the Labour Force Participation Rate and a fall in the unemployment rate even when the economy registered a sharp deceleration in the rate of growth. This is surprising...

-Hindustan Times PLFS report shows urban unemployment grew; there was an unprecedented shift from urban to rural jobs; wages fell and underemployment increased The 2019-20 Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), which was released last week by the National Statistical Office (NSO) shows a fall in unemployment rate from 5.8% in 2018-19 to 4.8% 2019-20. Since PLFS follows a July-June rather than the fiscal year (April-March) period, the 2019-20 report includes the 68-day...