New Delhi, Jan. 30 -- India's unemployment rate has declined steadily over recent years, even as short-term monthly data shows marginal fluctuations linked to seasonal factors.

Responding to questions in Parliament on Thursday, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje said that official employment and unemployment data are collected through the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

Long-Term Trends Show Improvement

According to the latest available Annual PLFS reports, the unemployment rate (UR) on a usual status basis for persons aged 15 years and above declined from 6.0 per cent in 2017-18 to 3.2 per cent in 2023-24.

For youth aged 15-2...