Bhubaneswar: Around 2.08 lakh people in the 15-29 age group in Odisha, who had jobs during the first quarter of 2021 (January-April), were left jobless during the second quarter of the year (May-August), as per the latest quarterly report (May-August 2021) of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
Confirming the recent NSSO report, the latest quarterly report (May-Aug 2021) of CMIE drops the bombshell of high job loss in Odisha. According to another report, the unemployment rate in Odisha is greater than the national unemployment rate of 23.5 per cent.
As per the report, around 29.53 lakh in the 15-29 age group had jobs during the first quarter of 2021 (January-April). However, the count shrunk to 27.45 lakh during the second quarter (May-August 2021), signifying the net job loss in the state at around 2.08 lakh.
The unemployment rate in the job seekers of 15-29 age group is astronomically high, said the report.
“During the first quarter of the year (January-April), the unemployment rate in the age group of 15-19 years had been astronomically high at 35.46 per cent. The joblessness rate in the age group of 20-24 years stood at 14.91 per cent, whereas the rate in the age group of 25-29 years had been 3.5 per cent,” said the report.
The unemployment rate in May-August 2021 in the age group of 15-19 years had been 16.81 per cent and at 12.26 per cent in 20-24 years age group. The joblessness rate in the 25-29 years age group stood at 5.17 per cent at the end of the second quarter.
The report puts the total unemployed in the state at the quarter ending August 31, 2021 at 4.9 lakh vis-a-vis 3.14 lakh at the end of April 2021 and 2.16 lakh at the end of December 2020.
The numbers reveal that during the last eight months, the number of jobless persons in the state had risen by 2.08 lakh. The CMIE has measured the despondency among youths in landing jobs in Odisha in the indicator of Greater Unemployment Rate (GUR).
As per CMIE, the GUR is about youths who are unemployed and need a job but are not active jobseekers. The GUR in the May-August 2021 quarter had been estimated at 38.20 per cent in the 15-29 years age group and 32.27 per cent in the 20-24 years age group in Odisha.
The corresponding figures at the end of December 2020 were 44.47 per cent in the 15-19 years age group, 29.56 per cent in the 20-24 years age group. During the first quarter of 2021, the GUR in the age group of 15-19 years was estimated at a high of 56.99 per cent.
It was at 33.93 per cent in the age group of 20-24 years. Odisha had imposed lockdown to curb spread of Covid-19 from May 2021. The high unemployment rate and GUR in the pre-lockdown phase in 2021 is, therefore, eye-popping.
PNN