Goa’s Unemployment Rate is The Third Highest in The Country

With hundreds of thousands youth remained unemployed and many of them traveled outside the country in the search of employment Goa’s unemployment rate remains the third highest in the country. Although many politicians making the promises of the employment to the Goan youth but the fact remains the Goan youths are still unemployed.  

According to latest data released by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), India’s unemployment rate increased to 6.9% in February 2021 from 6.53% in the previous month. The 30-day moving average of the unemployment rate in India was 7% as of February 28, 2021, CMIE data showed.

The unemployment rate in the country has ranged from a low of 6.5% in November 2020 to a high of 9.1% in December 2020. The average unemployment rate in India during this six-month period was somewhat high at about 7.4%. The high monthly volatility of unemployment in normal times reflects the high proportion of informal employment in India.

In the state level reports, the highest unemployment rate of 26.4% was reported by Haryana, followed by Rajasthan at 25.6% and Goa at 21.1%. The lowest unemployment rate of 1.6% was reported by Assam followed by Madhya Pradesh at 2.1%.

In September 2020, Goa’s unemployment stood at 15.4% as per CMIE while in November 2018 it was only 2.1%. 

The data showed that the unemployment rate in urban areas declined despite a rise in joblessness rate on a national level. The rural areas, however, saw a surge in unemployment during the month under review. The urban unemployment rate dropped to 6.99% in February from 8.08% in January 2021, while the rural unemployment rate rose to 6.86% from 5.83% in the previous month. 

Reacting to the matter, former Labour Minister and Porvorim MLA, Rohan Khaunte tweeted on Tuesday that “ Goa’s unemployment rate shoot from 2.8% in February 2020 to 21.1% in February 2021. An almost 10 times increase showcases the failure of Goa government to sustain, revive or support the extant employments during this Covid -19 pandemic “.

Goa’s economy has hit a rough patch with the closure of mining bringing the entire state to a grinding halt. More than a lakh people were directly or indirectly dependant on the iron ore mining sector. Also the main employment sector of the state, the tourism industry also witnessed a huge downfall due to the pandemic and its consequences.