HYDERABAD: Telangana’s unemployment rate, which had gradually declined after the first wave of the pandemic, has begun rising yet again, in the wake of the second wave. As per the monthly data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), Telangana’s unemployment rate had gone down to 4.3 per cent in January, 2021, and has increased to 7.4 per cent in May, 2021.
During the first wave, in May, 2020, the State’s unemployment rate had hit a record high of 14.7 per cent, which gradually declined over the last few months. In November, 2020, the unemployment rate in the State was at 1.6 per cent.
Lockdown sparks spike in unemployment rate
The CMIE data shows that with the second wave and the subsequent lockdown, there’s an increase in the rate of joblessness. In March, 2021, Telangana’s unemployment rate stood at 3.7 per cent, while in April, it was at 5.0 per cent. In May, it spiked to 7.4 per cent, while the national average for the month was at 11.9 per cent.
Unemployment rates of many States have worsened in the last one month. In the neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the unemployment rates for the month of May were 13.5 per cent and 5.3 respectively.