The record surge in the COVID-19 cases during the second wave has deeply impacted household incomes and jobs as localised lockdowns were forced to remain in place in most states of the country. According to the latest data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), over 10 million Indians have lost their jobs due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and around 97 percent of the households’ incomes have declined since last year.
The Chief Executive of CMIE, Mahesh Vyas said, “As per the calculations of CMIE, the unemployment rate is expected to come at 12 percent at the end of May in comparison to 8 percent in April.”
The data suggested that one of the major reasons behind huge number of people losing their jobs is the ‘second deadly wave of COVID-19 disease’. It was also revealed that the pandemic made it difficult for people to find jobs, however, those in the informal sector came back quickly with jobs. But the formal sector and better-quality job opportunities took up to a year to come back.
In fact, last year in May 2020, the unemployment rate touched a record high of 23.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the labour participation rate, which is the percentage of the working age population in the market, has come down to 40 percent as of now from pre-pandemic levels of 42.5 percent.