New Delhi: The country’s unemployment rate decreased to 6.80 percent in July, the lowest level in the previous six months, as agricultural activity increased during the monsoon, according to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data.

According to the CMIE figures, the jobless rate decreased from 7.80% in June to 6.80% in July. Rural unemployment dropped from 265.2 million or 8.03 percent in June to 272.1 million or 6.14 percent last month, it said.

On the other hand, since employment declined in both industry and services, urban unemployment increased to 8.21 percent in July from 7.80 percent in June.

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According to CMIE data, there was a 0.6 million decrease in employment in urban India, from 125.7 million to 125.1 million.

The employment rebound month over month was only partially successful due to the 13 million jobs lost in June and the 6.3 million jobs added in July, CMIE Managing Director and CEO Mahesh Vyas said.

As the southwest monsoon developed and kharif sowing activities increased, the rebound was primarily seen in rural areas and in agriculture.

He said, the agriculture industry in rural areas added 9.4 million new workers in July despite losing 8 million in June.

This month’s lower-than-expected infusion of labour into agriculture is a result of the southwest monsoon’s spotty development and the year’s subpar kharif sowing.

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According to Vyas, the rains this year have been extremely scarce in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and data available until the end of July shows that rice cultivation was down 13% overall, with Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal accounting for the majority of the decrease.

“Unless the khariff sowing improves, we don’t see improvement in rural employment. However, I expect the monsoon to improve going forward, which will have a positive impact on the employment scenario in rural areas,” Vyas said.

As a result of job losses in both industry and services, urban unemployment increased to 8.21 percent in July from 7.80 percent in June, according to the CMIE figures.

The services sector lost 2.8 million jobs in July after losing 0.8 million in June, according to Vyas, while the manufacturing sector lost 0.2 million jobs in July after losing 4.3 million in June.

According to Vyas, the manufacturing and service sectors have been losing jobs for the past two months.

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According to Vyas, employment in the industrial sector peaked in May at 108 million but subsequently fell to 104 million in June and July.

The recovery in industrial employment was primarily in the construction sector rather than the higher-quality manufacturing sector. During June and July, over 8 million non-farm employment were eliminated, equally across the industries and services sectors.

“There is a need for more investments to take place, which is likely to take some time. However, we don’t expect any drastic deterioration in the unemployment scenario in the country,” Vyas added.

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