Educated unemployed rises in Nagaland to second highest among states in India

September 30, 2024 4 Views No Comment

Moa Jamir
Dimapur | September 30

The unemployment rate among ‘educated persons’ in Nagaland surged in 2023-24, placing it second highest among all states in India, according to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) report by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

Released on September 23, the report indicated a sharp rise in educated unemployment from 8.9% in 2022-23 to 13.4% in 2023-24, reversing a three-year downward trend.

This jump represents a 50.6% increase over the previous year. The report noted that unemployment among educated females in Nagaland stood at 13.4%, while the rate for males was 11.8%.

Nagaland was only surpassed by Arunachal Pradesh, where the educated unemployment rate reached 16%, while the national average for the same category was 7.1%.

However, the Union Territories of Lakshadweep recorded the highest educated unemployment rate overall at 39.6%, followed by Andaman & Nicobar Islands at 20.2%.

The latest PLFS data reveals a stark reversal for Nagaland, where the unemployment rate among educated individuals had been steadily declining since 2019-20, when it was a staggering 36.6%.

In 2020-21, the rate dropped to 30.8%, followed by a sharp decline to 15.6% in 2021-22, and a further decrease to 8.9% in 2022-23.

It remains to be seen whether the sharp 50.6% rise this year signals a return to previous higher levels. The overall unemployment rate in Nagaland also followed a similar trend over the past five years of the survey.

In other north-east states, the unemployment rates in 2023-24 were: Assam (9.0%), Manipur (9.5%), Meghalaya (12.6%), Mizoram (4.8%), Sikkim (7.5%), and Tripura (5.9%).

The report also highlights that among educated individuals, unemployment was highest among those with postgraduate qualifications and above, at 27%, followed closely by diploma or certificate holders (26.2%).

The unemployment rate for graduates was 19.2%, while those with higher secondary and secondary education recorded rates of 12.2% and 5.6%, respectively.

At the national level, graduates faced the highest unemployment rate at 13%, followed by postgraduates (12.4%), higher secondary (8.6%), and secondary (4.4%).

The survey defined ‘educated persons’ as those who have attained the educational level of secondary and above, in the 15 years or above age group.

What is unemployment rate?
The PLFS report defines the unemployment rate as the percentage of unemployed persons within the labour force or “economically active” population.

The data used in the current report is based on the usual status (ps+ss), which considers both the usual principal status and subsidiary status.

The labour force estimate includes individuals who worked or were actively seeking work for a significant portion of the past 365 days and those who worked at least 30 days during that reference period of the survey.

The PLFS has been conducted annually by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under MoSPI since 2017 and 2023-24 edition was the seventh annual report brought out by NSSO on the basis of data collected from July 2023 – June 2024.

The major objectives of PLFS are to measure employment and unemployment across the country.

According to MoSPI, the latest survey in Nagaland covered 71 villages, 568 households, and 2,393 persons in rural areas.

In the urban areas, it covered 128 blocks covering 1,024 households and 4,616 persons.

Source: https://morungexpress.com/educated-unemployed-rises-in-nagaland-to-second-highest-among-states-in-india