Youth inactivity highest in India among emerging and developing economies, says IMF economist

New Delhi: Youth inactivity is the highest in India among emerging and developing economies, IMF senior economist John Bluedorn said on Wednesday. Bluedorn was speaking on labour market in emerging and developing economies at an event organised by Brookings India. “Youth inactivity is the highest in India compare to emerging and developing economies and it is about in 30 per cent,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_2847738” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representataional image. Reuters[/caption] Bluedorn noted that the key challenges facing youth in emerging economies labour markets include gender gaps, technological change, poor job quality in employment. He also pointed out that emerging and developing economies are less vulnerable than advanced economies from technological changes and automation challenges. A recent data compiled by Mumbai-based CMIE reportedly claimed that the unemployment rate in India rose to 7.2 percent in February 2019. The unemployment rate in India rose to 7.2 percent in February 2019, the highest since September 2016, and up from 5.9 percent in February 2018, according to data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) that was released on 5th February. The unemployment rate has climbed despite a fall in the number of job seekers, Mahesh Vyas, head of the Mumbai-based think tank told Reuters, citing an estimated fall in the labour force participation rate. The number of employed persons in India was estimated at 400 million in February compared with 406 million a year ago, he said, a PTI report said. The CMIE numbers are based on a survey of tens of thousands of households across India. The figures are regarded by many economists as more credible than the jobless data produced by the government. When the government has released official data for the jobless rate in the past it has tended to be out-of-date. But recently it withheld a batch of data because officials said they needed to check its veracity. The figures that were withheld in December were leaked to a local newspaper a few weeks ago, and showed that India’s unemployment rate rose to its highest level in at least 45 years in 2017/18. A CMIE report released in January said nearly 11 million people lost jobs in 2018 after the demonetisation of high-value notes in late 2016 and the chaotic launch of a new goods and services tax in 2017, hit millions of small businesses. The government told Parliament last month that it did not have data on the impact of demonetisation on jobs in small businesses. Earlier, an NSSO’s draft report showed that India’s unemployment rate hit a 45-year high of 6.1 percent in 2017. --With PTI inputs