New Delhi, April 7: Unemployment rate in India soared to 23 percent in the last week of March, said think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in its latest update released on Tuesday. The claims of joblessness meterically shot up due to the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the transmission of coronavirus. COVID-19 Live Tracker: Map The Spread of Coronavirus in All Parts of India.

The unemployment numbers are an all-time record-high in India. While employment was expected to dip due to the restrictions announced on March 24, the gradual fall in labour participation since January this year is also a worrying factor, CMIE chief Mukesh Vyas said. Government Unveils Rs 1.7 Lakh Crore to Ease Economic Impact of Lockdown.

The labour participation stood at 42.96 percent in January, and plunged to 41.90 percent in March this year. The entire percentage point shrinkage is "really worrisome" and points to a deteriorating scenario which predated the imposition of lockdown, the think-tank head said in his post. Coronavirus Cases in India Rise to 4,421 With 354 New Patients in Past 24 Hours, Death Toll 114.

In the three-month period, the total number of employed people fell from 411 million to 396 million, whereas, the number of unemployed individuals jumped from 32 million to 38 million. "These are very big variations and are subject to the usual sampling errors," Vyas said.

Unemployment Rate Peaks to 23%

Even before the imposition of lockdown, India was reeling under a prolonged economic slowdown. The central bank had issued multiple revisions in the growth estimates for current fiscal, scaling it down from 7.4 to 5 percent. According to Moody's Investor Service, India may clock a growth of merely 2.5 percent amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For the year 2021, the Fitch ratings agency has predicted India to sail at 2 percent -- the lowest since the liberalisation of economy in 1991.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 07, 2020 11:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).