Overview
- Citing Thursday's Periodic Labour Force Survey published by the Ministry of Statistics, the PLFS shows unemployment at 5.5% versus 5.6% a year earlier, salaried workers at 51.4% up from 51.2%, and female workforce participation rising to 32.7% from 32%.
- In an August 13 Saamana editorial, Shiv Sena (UBT) argued those small year-on-year shifts show a broadly stagnant market and said the figures contradict the government's claim of creating about 1.7 crore jobs per year and an earlier promise of 2 crore.
- The party cited Azim Premji University research that says degree-holders make up a large share of unemployed youth and that roughly 12 of every 1,000 young jobseekers obtain permanent employment, signalling weak prospects for qualified graduates.
- Analysts and the party warn that headline stability masks deeper problems such as falling rural work, underemployment and a rise in insecure or temporary jobs rather than sustainable salaried roles.
- The editorial called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to acknowledge the scale of the challenge, a development that could sharpen political pressure and prompt scrutiny of job-creation targets and labour policies.