Telangana's unemployement rate at 6.2 % amid lockdown, AP higher

Hyderabad: A report published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a United Nations agency, shows that unemployment and risk of lay-offs would affect workers differently across sectors. Across the world, people employed in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, the manufacturing sector and the real estate sector will have to bear the brunt of Covid-19 since they fall in the high-risk category. While wholesale and retail trade account for 14.5 per cent of the global economy, the manufacturing sector accounts for 13.9 per cent, making it a substantial number among the workforce.

Compared to the two sectors, real estate accounts for only 4.7 per cent of the world economy. The same goes for accommodation and food services, which account for 4.3 per cent. However, both of the sectors fall under high-risk category in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ILO says.

Transport and arts/entertainment sector fall under the medium-high risk category, both of which contribute to 11 per cent of the economy together. All construction activities, agriculture, mining and quarrying are in medium or low-medium risk.

Education, healthcare and public administration sectors are most low-risk sectors during the pandemic.

Unemployment rate increases in Andhra, Telangana

Comparing the unemployment rates between March and April, 2020, Andhra Pradesh showed a drastic increase in the unemployment rate, at 14.8 per cent. While in March, the unemployment rate in the state was 5.7 per cent, in April, it rose to 20.5 per cent.

In case of Telangana, the rate of increase is not as drastic as in AP. The unemployment rate in March was at 5.8 per cent and it rose to 6.2 per cent, an increase of 0.4 per cent. Interestingly, both of the states have an unemployment rate that is less than the national average, 23.5 per cent.

Covid-19: Job losses, lay-offs, unemployment

The ILO estimates that around 2 billion people who work informally, mostly in emerging and developing countries, are likely to be the worst affected. In fact, the labour organisation stated that the poverty levels are likely to increase by 56 per cent in low-income countries. In addition to this, the current quarter lockdown, April-June, 2020, is likely to cause a decline of nearly 195 million full-time workers (assuming a 48-hour working week).

In case of India, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), stated that in April, 2020, around 30 per cent of job losses were reported, which translates to a loss of 12.2 crore jobs in the country.

In the country, “the labourers and SMEs have lost most jobs, to the tune of about 91.3 million followed by entrepreneurs (job loss of 18.2 million) and salaried employees (job loss of 17.8 million). Job creation has only happened in the farm sector during the lockdown period to a tune of

5.8 million,” an article by Global Forum for Sustainable Transformation cited CMIE.