The National Sample Survey Organisation, using its Consumer Expenditure Survey for 2007-08, had painted a rosy unemployment figure of 2.8 per cent. The Labour Bureau’s survey covered 300 districts in 28 states and Union territories that represent 99 per cent of the country’s population.
The bureau’s “Report on Employment & Unemployment Survey 2009-10” also breaks the myth that 70 per cent of the rural economy is dependent on agriculture. According to the survey, only 57.6 per cent in rural and 9.9 per cent in urban areas depend on agriculture, forestry and fishing.
In urban areas, a maximum of 17.3 per cent of the self-employed are engaged in wholesale and retail trade, followed by 15.4 per cent in manufacturing and 14.6 per cent in community services.
In case of the salaried sector, 22.7 per cent are employed in community services, followed by 15.3 per cent in the manufacturing group.
The survey, however, admits that the small sample size could have influenced the under reporting in agriculture sector which, in turn, could have depressed the overall employment rate. But this deviation would only be to the extent of 10 per cent, Labour Bureau Director General B N Nanda claimed.
The report also pegs the overall literacy rate for the population in the age group of seven years and above at 77.7 per cent, with 74.6 in the rural areas and 86 per cent in the urban areas.
In the past, the bureau has conducted quarterly employment surveys in selected sectors to assess the impact of the economic growth or slowdown on employment.