STATUS OF EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT STATISTICS IN INDIA Dr. R.N. Pandey, Joint Director, C.S.

O, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, New Delhi INTRODUCTION

Provision of increasing employment opportunities both in urban and rural areas to sol ve the problem of unemployment has been recogni zed as an important obj ective of economic planning in India. Lar ge expansion i n employment opportunities, utilizing full y the manpower res ources of the country and ens uring a substantial expansion in employment opportunities and expansion of productive employment have been pronounced as i mportant obj ectives in various Fi ve Year Plans. For for mulation and monitoring of plans to solve the unemployment problem in the countr y, the i mportance of up-to-dat e and reliable statistics on various aspects of unemployment need not be over emphasi zed. Keeping in view this need, such t ypes of statistics are already being collected by various agencies in the countr y. However, much more needs to be done to i mprove the quality and coverage of statistics on employment and unemployment, presentl y being collected by various agencies. In this paper, an attempt has been made to describe briefl y the sources of data, concepts and definitions adopted in these s ources, etc. Some i mportant statistics on employment and unempl oyment available from t hese sources are also gi ven in this paper. II. Sources of Data on Employment and Unemployment

The statistics on employment and unemployment can be collected either through censuses of population and economic establishments and national level sample sur veys , or through returns under various Acts relating to regulation of economic establishments regarding wor kers, etc. Employment Exchanges recording j ob seekers, etc., can be another source. A brief description of various s ources is gi ven below. (i) Population Census

It has been the tradition in the population census of India to collect infor mation on the economic acti vity of the people. The Census data provi de an inventor y of human resources of the countr y showing their number, characteristics, occupation and distribution among various branches of economy. The meas urement of economic activit y has been attempted i n ever y census of the countr y even though there has been variation in the concepts adopted from ti me to ti me. (ii) National Sample Survey Organi zation (NSSO)

The NSSO collects data through sample sur veys based on scientific technique of random sampling through household enquiry both in rural and

urban areas. In a number of earlier rounds, the NSSO has experi mented with various concepts and methodologies in tr ying out and standardi zing a proper framewor k to esti mate, in quantitative ter ms, the characteristics of labour force, employment, unemployment and under-employment . The experi mental surveys were followed by regular annual sample s ur veys till late sixties. Afterwards, the quinquennial sur veys started in 27 t h r ound (1972-73) , with the follow up sur veys in 32 n d round ( 1977-78), 38 t h r ound (1983) and 43 r d round (1987-88) and 50 t h Round ( 1993-94). The NSSO now also gi ves annual esti mate of employment and unemployment on the basis of a thin sample. (iii) Employment Market I nf ormation Programme

The Directorate General of Employment and Training ( DGET) has been implementing the Employment Mar ket Infor mation (EM I) scheme over the last 30 years through a net-w or k of Employment Exchanges spread over the countr y. This programme covers the or ganized sector, which includes all establishments in the public sector and non-agricultural establishments employing ten or more persons in the pri vate sector. While data on employment in the public sector and those non-agricultural establishments in the private sector employi ng more than 25 persons are collected under the provisions of Employment Exchanges (Compulsor y Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959, the same from the nonagricultural establishments in the pri vate sector employing ten to 24 persons are being collected on a voluntar y basis. The EMI is one of the i mportant sources of infor mation on employme nt in the or gani zed sector of the economy. It also provides infor mation about the structure of employment, occupational compositions and educational profile of employees, assess ment of manpower shortages in the or gani zed sector, etc. one of the maj or li mitations of EM I is that it does not cover the vast unor gani zed sector with enough employment avenue. (iv) Employment Exchange Statistics

The day-to-day registration at Employment Exchanges and notification of vacancies by the employers generate comprehensi ve infor mation, which facilitates the appraisal of organi zed labour mar ket. The statistical returns from Employment Exchanges relating to various characteristics of j ob seekers fresh or otherwise, and the demand pattern of employment in industr y and servi ce sectors provide onl y a broad indication of the unemployment situation in the organi zed labour mar ket. However, as registration is voluntary and they are located in urban areas, t hey cannot be deemed to cover all j ob seekers. Further there are known deficiencies arising from the fact that not all the registrants would be really without a j ob. Moreover , the number of j ob seekers is not necessarily the number of unemployed persons. (v) Economic Cens us

Under the scheme of Economic Census and Sur veys, a countr y-wide census of all non-agricultural economic acti vities was carried out during 1977 to provide basic information on the number of establishments, number of

persons usuall y wor king, the nature of acti vities and other characteristics such as type of ownership, s ocial group of owner , etc., of the establishments. The census did not cover own-account and agricultural enterprises. An establishment for the purpose of economic census has been defined as one engaged in production and/or distribution of goods and/or ser vices not for the sole purpose of own consumption and employing at least one hired wor ker on a fairly regular basis. The economic census of 1980 was dovetailed with the house listing operations of the population census of 1981 covering all t ypes of enterprises, vi z., establishments and own account enterprises. Four follow-up sur veys has also been conducted till now. The economic census of 1990 was conducted along with the house listing operations of 1991 population census. The last economic census was conducted during 1998. The economic census gi ves employment by t ype of enterprise, distribution of employment by maj or activit y gr oup, distribution or persons usually wor king in non-agricultural own account enterprises by States and rural -urban break-up, percentage distribution of hired wor kers and females employed to persons us ually wor king in non-agricultural establishments, etc. III. Concepts and Def initions adopted in Various Important Data Sources

One of the serious problems in this field is the use of different concepts and definitions and employment and unemployment in different sources such as NSSO and census and in the same source also it has changed over time. This makes the comparison of data among various sources quite difficult. However, efforts have been made by various sources to standardi ze the definitions, particularly NSS, to ensure comparabilit y of data over ti me. Brief description of changes in the concepts and definitions in two main sources, namel y census and NSSO, are discussed below. (i) Population Census

The data on economic acti vit y of the people collected up to the 1951 census were based on income and dependency concepts. From the 1961 census onward, the concept of wor k measured in terms of ti me or the labour force concept has been followed. In 1961 census, in case of seasonal wor k, a person was considered as a wor ker if he/she had some wor k of more than one hour a day throughout the greater part of the wor king season. In the case of regular wor k, the person should have been employed during any of the fifteen days preceding the day on which the enumerator had visited the household. In 1971 cens us, ever y person was asked what his main acti vity was, i.e. how he/she engaged himself mostl y. On the basis of this question the population was di vided into t wo main acti vities as wor kers and nonwor kers. The reference period adopted was one week prior to the date of enumeration in the case of regular wor k. If a person had participated in any such regular wor k on any one of the days during this reference period and this

has been returned as his main acti vity, the person was categori zed accordingl y. In the case of seasonal wor kers , a persons main activit y was ascertained with reference to such wor k in the last one year even if the person was not economicall y acti ve in the week prior to the enumeration because it may be likel y that even when a person is engaged in some wor k during the period of one week prior to the date of enumeration, the main acti vit y of the person may be cultivation, agricultural labour or some other wor k attended to nor mall y by the person in the course of the year. Ever y person whether he or she had returned hi mself or herself in any of the basically non-wor king categor y was required to state his or her secondar y wor k. Each person was asked if besides the main acti vit y, the person had participated in any secondar y work. The economic question of the 1981 census were for mulated so as to first divide the population into those who had worked any ti me at all during t he year preceding the census and those who had not wor ked at all during the year. The latter were ter med as non-wor kers . Havi ng classified the population into these broad groups, an attempt was made to sub-divide those who had worked any time into two groups: ( I) main wor kers- t hose who had wor ked in some economic acti vit y for the maj or part of the year, i.e. for a period of six months (183 days) or more; and (ii) mar ginal wor kers- those who had wor ked for some time during the last year , but not for the maj or part. An attempt was also made to find out whether those who were non-wor kers or those who were mar ginal wor kers seeking or available for wor k. Thus, a trichotomy of persons into mutuall y exclusi ve groups of main wor kers, mar ginal wor kers and non-workers was introduced in the 1981 census. A uniform reference period of one-year preceding the enumeration was adopted for recording acti vit y status in the 1981 census irrespective of whether the acti vity was seasonal or regular. In the 1991 census, a unifor m reference period of one year for both seasonal and regular acti vities was adopted as in 1981 census . With a view to net persons engaged in unpaid wor k on far m or in famil y enterprise, the word Including unpaid work on far m or in famil y enterprise was i nserted in the schedule itself. The question of seeking/available for wor k was as ked onl y for non-wor kers. In case of non-wor kers seeking/available for wor k, infor mation whether they are seeking/available for wor k for the first ti me or not was also ascertained so as to know the number of entrants to the labour force f or the first time. In order to ens ure that the economic acti vit y of unpaid wor kers on farm or in famil y enterprise (women, children are the predominant constituent of this force) properl y enumerated in the 1991 census, the instructions to census enumerators were expanded and emphasis was laid on the need to as k probing questions regarding the wor k done at any ti me at all last year or any of the seasons in the reference period speciall y in the case of women. Though the questionnaire of 2001 Population Census is not yet finali zed, the economic questions to be asked are likel y t o be same as asked in 1991 census.

(ii)

National Sample Survey Organisation Concept of w ork:

The NSSO has defined wor k or gainful acti vit y as the acti vit y pursued for pay, profit or famil y gain or in other words, the acti vit y which adds value to the national product. Nor mall y, it is an acti vit y, which results in production of goods and ser vices for exchange. However, all acti vities in agricultural sector in which a part or whole of the agricultural production is used for own consumption and does not go for sale are also considered as gainful. The survey has adopted three different approaches employment and unempl oyment. The three approaches are: (1) (2) (3) to meas ure

Usual status approach with a reference period of 365 days preceding the date of sur vey. Current weekl y status approach with a reference period of seven days preceding the date of sur vey. Current dail y status approach with each day of the seven days precedi ng date of sur vey as the reference period. This approach attempts classification of person-days and not persons.

The NSS classifications of economic acti vit y are based on the recommendations of Expert Committee on Unemployment Esti mates (1970) set up by the Planning Commission. The esti mates are generated separatel y for four quarters of year. These quarters are al most co-ter minus with four seasons. This helps to study the seasonal pattern of employment and unemployment. (a) Classif ication according to Usual Status Approach

The status of activit y on which a person has spent relativel y longer ti me of the preceding 365 days prior to the date of sur vey is considered to be the usual principal activity status of the person. Accordingl y, a persons principal usual status was considered as wor king or empl oyed if he or she is engaged relatively for a longer ti me during the reference period of last 365 days, in any one or more of the wor k acti vities. A person was treated as Seeking or Available for Wor k or unemployed if he or she was not working but was either seeking or available for wor k for a relatively longer ti me of the specified reference period. Si milarly, one was classified as not in labour force, if he or she was engaged in relativel y longer period in any one of the non-gainful acti vities. Within the two broad acti vit y categories wor king and not in labour force, the detailed acti vity categor y was deter mined on the basis of ti me spent criterion. A person categori zed as wor ker on the basis of his/her principal status is referred to as principal status wor ker. A non-wor ker who pursued some gainful acti vit y in a subsidiar y capacity is referred to as subsidiar y status wor ker. Principal status wor kers and subsidiar y status wor kers together constitute all wor kers according to the usual status classification.

(b)

Classif ication according to current w eekly status approach

For classification of the population under current weekl y status approach, a priority-cum-maj or ti me rule has been adopted. According to the criteria, status of worki ng gets priorit y over status of not wor king or being available for wor k. Status of seeking or being available for wor k in turn gets priority over non-gainful acti vities pursued. When a person is found to be possessing more than one gainful acti vit y, the unique acti vit y is decided as that activit y on which relati vel y more ti me has been spent. A person is considered to be employed if he or she pursues any one or more of the gainful acti vities for at least one-hour on any day of the reference week. On the other hand, if a person does not pursue any gainful acti vit y, but has been seeking or available for wor k, the person is considered as unemployed. (c) Classif ication according to current daily status approach

Under this approach, all the acti vities of a person are listed on each day of the preceding week. Up to two statuses were recorded for each day of the reference week for pers ons pursuing more than one acti vity during the seven days of the reference week. The unit of classification is half day. Under this concept, a person is considered as wor king (employed) for the entire day if he had wor ked four hours or more during the day. If he had wor ked for one hour or more, but less than four hours, he is considered as wor king for half day and seeking/available for wor k (unemployed) and not in labour force for other half of the day, depending on whether he was seeki ng or available for wor k or not. If a person is not engaged in any wor k, even for one hour on the day, but was seeking/available for wor k for four hours or more, he is considered unemployed for the entire day. If he is available for wor k for less than four hours onl y, he is considered as unemployed for half day and not in labour force for other half day. A person who neither had any wor k to do nor was available for wor k even for half of the day is considered not in labour force for the entire day. The aggregate of day units, either half or full, under the different activit y categories during the reference week di vided by seven provides the estimates of average number of person days by acti vity categor y during an average week over the sur vey period on one year. Linkage betw een Census and NSSO data: The NSSO has defined wor k or gainful activit y; as the acti vit y pursued for pay, profit or famil y gain or in other words, the acti vit y which adds value to the national product . Nor mall y, it is an activity, which results in production of goods and ser vices for exchange. However, all acti vities in the agricultural sector in which a part or whole of the agricultural production is used for own consumption and does not go for sale are also considered as gainful. As in the Census , attending the household chores does not constitute wor k or gainful activity in the NSSO. Further, both in the Census and in the NSSO, beggars, prostitutes, etc. are not considered as wor kers even though they may have some earning.

The meas urement of empl oyment and unemployment based on the usual status approach in NSSO is the one, which can be broadl y compared with the census. III. Some Important Statistics

Some i mportant employment and unemployment statistics as available from Population census, NSSO and Employment Exchanges are gi ven in Table 1,2,3 and 4. These tables show the variations in the employment and unemployment data due to differences in concepts and methodology of data collection

Table 1. India: Worker Population Ratio by Gender and RuralUrban Residence, 1951 to 1993-94 Year/Source India Rural India Urban India P e r s o n M a l e F e m a l e P e r s o n M a l e F e m a l e P e r s on Male Female (NSS Round) Census 39.1 53.9 23.4 39.5 53.5 25.0 37.1 56.4 14.7 1951 N S S ( 9 ) 4 3 . 2 5 9 . 2 2 6 . 6 3 2 . 4 5 1 . 4 11.6 1955 Census 43.0 57.1 28.0 45.1 58.2 31.4 33.5 52.4 11.1 1961 1971 1972-73 1977-78 1981 1983 1987-88 1989-90 1990-91 1991 1992 1993-94
Census NSS(27) NSS(32) 34.0 41.3 42.2 52.7 53.5 54.2 13.9 28.2 29.3 36.1 43.5 44.4 53.6 54.5 55.2 15.5 31.8 33.1 29.6 33.1 34.1 48.9 50.1 50.8 7.1 13.4 15.6

Census@ NSS(38) NSS(43) NSS(45) NSS(46)

36.8 42.2 41.1 41.2 40.4

52.6 53.8 53.1 53.9 54.3

19.8 29.6 28.1 27.6 25.4

38.9 44.6 43.4 43.7 42.7

53.8 54.7 53.9 54.8 55.3

23.2 34.0 32.3 31.9 29.2

30.0 34.3 33.9 33.9 33.8

49.1 51.2 50.6 51.2 51.3

8.3 15.1 15.2 14.6 14.3

Census* NSS(48) NSS(50)

37.5 41.2 42.0

51.6 54.3 54.5

22.3 27.0 28.6

40.0 43.8 44.4

52.5 55.6 55.3

26.7 31.3 32.8

30.2 33.6 34.7

48.9 50.7 52.0

9.2 14.6 15.4

@Excludes Assam * Excludes Jammu & Kashmir

Table 2. Work Participation Rate as per 1991 Population Census,India & States.
W or k participation rate P e r c e n t a g e o f m a i n wo r k e r s i n

State or Union Territory 1 INDI A

Primary (Main + Marginal) sector P M F

Secondary sector P M F

Tertiary sector P M F

Population (000')s

2
838,584

10 11 12 13
8.0 20.5 23.3 - - - -

14
10.8 - -

37.5 51.6 - - - -

22.3 67.5 - - -

63.6 81.2 12.0 13.1 - - - -

( ex c lu d i ng J am m u & Ka s hm ir ) @ 846,303 IN DI A ( i nc l u d in g J am m u & Ka s hm ir ) St at e s 66,508 A nd hr a Pr a des h 865 Ar un ac ha l Pr a d es h 2 2 , 4 14 As s am 8 6 , 3 74 B ih ar 1 , 1 7 0 Goa 41,310 G uj ar a t 16,464 Har ya n a 5,171 Him ac h a l P r a d es h 7,719 J am m u & Kas hm ir 44,977 K ar n a tak a 29,099 K er a l a 66,181 Ma d h ya Pr ad es h 78,937 Ma h ar as h tr a 1,837 Ma n i pur 1,775 Me g ha l a ya 690 M i zor am 1 , 2 10 Na g al a nd 31,660 O r is s a 20,282 P unj a b 44,006 Raj as t h an 406 S ik k im 55,859 T am il N a du 2,757 T r ip ur a 1 3 9 ,112 Utt ar Pr a d es h 6 8 ,078 W es t Be n ga l Unio n T e r rito r ie s 281 A nd am an & Nic o ba r Is l a nds 642 Ch a nd i ga r h 138 Da dr a & N ag ar H a v el i 102 Dam an & D iu 9,421 De l h i 52 Lak s h ad we e p 808 P on d ic her r y
Source: Office of the Registrar General, India

45.1 55.5 46.2 53.8 36.1 49.4 32.2 47.9 35.3 49.6 40.2 53.6 31.0 48.5 42.8 50.6 - - - 42.0 54.1 31.4 47.6 42.8 52.3 43.0 52.2 42.2 45.3 42.7 50.1 48.9 53.9 42.7 46.9 37.5 53.8 30.9 54.2 38.9 49.3 41.5 51.3 43.3 56.4 31.1 47.5 32.2 49.7 32.2 51.4 35.2 53.3 34.9 54.3 53.2 57.5 37.6 51.6 31.6 51.7 26.4 44.2 33.1 50.6

34.3 71.2 37.5 67.4 21.6 74.0 14.9 82.4 20.5 32.3 26.0 59.8 10.8 58.8 34.8 69.3 - 29.4 67.4 15.8 48.0 32.7 77.5 33.1 61.5 39.0 70.0 34.9 74.8 43.5 66.0 38.0 75.3 20.8 75.8 4.4 56.1 27.4 71.6 30.4 68.4 29.9 61.8 13.8 64.1 12.3 73.0 11.2 56.5 13.1 34.5 10.4 4.4 - -

64.6 83.8 10.5 12.0 54.6 89.9 71.0 86.5 80.6 91.6 8.7 12.3 5.6 4.6 6.1 4.9

7.7 18.3 23.4 2.2 23.9 33.1 3.3 20.4 22.9 3.2 13.0 14.5 5.8 22.4 24.8 6.7 28.0 28.7 2.4 20.7 25.7 - - - - -

8.5 7.9 10.2 5.1 42.9 12.5 21.1 7.9 10.4 29.7 5.5 10.4 9.4 14.7 19.9 6.7 10.1 54.8 6.5 13.5 11.5 22.4 9.1 19.8 50.2 84.2 5.6 42.2 79.3 56.0 36.1

28.2 44.5 22.0 25.1 12.7 45.7 46.7 54.5 81.7 17.9 20.8 57.4 72.2 13.2 13.9 61.5 89.6 10.0 12.9 - - - -

62.7 78.9 13.2 14.2 10.8 19.5 23.2 47.8 48.6 18.2 17.1 21.6 33.8 35.0 72.7 89.3 65.4 76.5 69.5 83.7 58.2 78.4 63.3 92.1 74.3 82.7 67.3 89.5 8.4 9.7 3.7 5.1 3.5 7.5 9.7 5.2 14.1 17.6 6.0 22.7 28.6 1.5 21.5 25.4 1.7 28.9 34.6 1.2 21.3 31.6 7.3 16.7 18.1 4.0 18.5 21.4 5.8 20.5 23.9 4.9 29.5 31.0 6.3 18.0 19.2 50.9 83.6 15.8 20.5 5.0 7.2 5.1 7.6

6.5 14.1 20.3 28.1

57.1 34.2 14.8 15.0 11.0 29.1 27.9 9.9 11.3 62.3 80.7 11.1 13.8 62.3 72.6 71.5 84.6 6.4 9.0 6.7 9.3

55.3 76.8 16.2 18.1 11.8 22.0 26.6

55.9 60.3 17.8 17.5 19.9 25.7 26.5 35.2 29.2 25.1 25.7 20.7 40.4 39.1 4.7 2.9 27.8 30.1 12.9 67.7 65.3 4.0 12.1 15.5

48.8 71.8 23.2 37.3 7.4 2.8 7.6 25.0 15.2 39.2

61.9 90.4 16.1 22.6 2.9

37.4 37.1 25.4 26.5 20.7 37.3 36.2 2.7 32.4 34.1 18.1 64.7 63.0 9.9 40.8 42.1 26.6 13.1 25.3 24.5 30.9 49.7 48.9 35.1 54.0 20.0 22.8

Table3. Unemployment rates@ as per various Rounds of NSSO by age (percent ) and Sex. (person)
Male Female Age-group (in Years) 5-14 15-29 30-44 45-59 60 & above Total

Year
5-14 15-29

Age-group (in Years) 30-44 45-59 60 & above Total

Rural 1977-78 1983 1987-88 1989-90 1990-91 July-Dec 91 1992 Jan-June 93 1993-94 1994-95 July95-June 96 $ Jan -Dec 97$ 1977-78 1983 1987-88 1989-90 1990-91 July-Dec.91 1992 JanJune'93' 1993-94 1994-95 July95-June 96 $ Jan -Dec 97$
2.0 2.8 3.2 1.9 0.6 3.7 1.3 3.7 1.6 0.8 1.6 4.9 4.7 6.2 3.6 3.2 4.3 3.8 3.7 4.9 3.1 3.6 0.6 0.5 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.5 0.0 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.1 1.3 1.4 0.0 0.0 1.5 1.6 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 2.2 2.1 2.8 1.6 1.3 1.8 1.6 1.6 2.0 2.7 1.6 2.1 0.8 2.0 2.1 2.0 3.2 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.2 0 0 0.4 0.8 0.5 1.0 1.4 4.7 1.2 2.9 1.4 8.5 2.8 5.4 1.5 1.0 4.1 0.5 2.4 0.4 0.3 3.0 0.4 1.9 0.6 0.6 1.2 1.2 0.4 2.0 0.6 1.8 5.5 1.4 3.5 0.8

3.3

3.8

0.3

0.0

0.0

1.6

1.2

2.1

0.3

0.9

Urban
7.7 10.6 9.3 11.1 9.0 12.0 14.8 7.2 14.0 12.2 13.6 9.7 11.3 9.6 10.2 9.2 1.3 1.4 1.2 0.9 0.8 1.0 1.3 0.8 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.4 1.5 0.6 1.1 1.8 0.9 0.2 2.1 0.2 6.5 5.9 6.1 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.6 3.8 4.5 6.8 7.9 10.8 8.5 9.9 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.2 4.0 9.5 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.3 4.5 3.7 2.6 2.7 19.6 10.0 2.8 0.3 0.4 0.0 0.0 3.6 4.3 3.9 17.2 11.2 13.8 8.6 2.5 1.8 2.6 0.3 0.5 8.2 1.0 6.7 4.3 13.2 1.4 0.4 5.5 7.8 2.3 4.1 31.4 15.5 18.8 7.9 10.4 2.1 3.5 1.1 4.8 0.7 1.1 0.5 5.4 2.2 9.1 1.1 17.8 6.9 8.5 3.9

4.3

10.0

0.9

0.3

0.2

3.9

3.1

13.2

1.7

0.0

0.0

5.1

Source : National Sample Survey Organisation N o t e : Th e f i g u r e s o f d i f f e r e n t r o u n d s r e l a t e t o t h e u s u a l p r i n c i p a l status Nil 0.0 Negligible @ Th e p e r c e n t a g e o f u n e m p l o y e d i n l a b o u r f o r c e $ Th e f i g u r e s a r e b a s e d o n t h i n s a m p l e

Table 4. Job-seekers registered w ith employment exchanges India Year No. on live register at the Percentage increase end of year over the previous year (lakhs) 1961 1966 1971 1976 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 18.33 26.22 51.00 97.84 162.00 178.38 197.53 219.53 235.47 262.70 301.31 302.47 300.50 327.76 346.32 363.00 367.58 362.75 366.91 367.42 14.1 25.4 4.9 13.0 10.1 10.7 11.1 7.3 11.6 14.7 0.4 0.7 9.1 5.7 4.8 1.3 1.3 1.1 0.1

1996 374.30 1.9 1997 391.40 4.6 1998 400.90 2.4 Source :Directorate General of Employment & Training, Ministry of Labour Negligible Note: All the job seekers on the live register of the employment exchnages are not necessarily unemployed.